1787/1877 CT 1/2P Mailed Bust Left, M 12-Q, BN MS(PCGS#686419)

November 2019 Baltimore Colonial Coins and Americana Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

5138

等级

AU55BN

价格

15,159

详细说明

One of the Finest Known 1787 over 1877 Connecticut Coppers The Finest 1787/1877 Overdate Certified by PCGS 1787 Connecticut Copper. Miller 12-Q, W-2885. Rarity-3. Mailed Bust Left, 1787 over 1877. AU-55 (PCGS). 123.7 grains. In the Roper sale we wrote "For some reason this variety is inevitably struck on a defective planchet, but this example is much better than most," a statement with which we can wholeheartedly agree; we note a bit of peripheral roughness at the rims due to a planchet cutter lip. The fields are lightly lustrous and glossy, the color ranging from rich mahogany at right obverse to a deeper chestnut at left obverse and all over the reverse. The strike is sharp and bold, with fully detailed central devices down to each laurel leaf in effigy's hair and with three vines heavy with grapes visible on the reverse shield. Little actual wear may be seen on this coin, and the AU-55 given grade is a perfect shorthand for the amount of circulation this coin has seen. The comical 1787 over 1788 is clearly visible, even to the naked eye, unaffected by the furrow created by the planchet cutter just a millimeter away from the bottom of the date. This was the plate coin for reverse Q in Robert Vlack's 1965 work Early American Coins. Though many high-grade survivors of this Rarity-2 die marriage exist, few are as well-balanced as this one, and Robert considered this "High Condition Census." Taylor's was called "AU-50" with faded mint luster and comparable to Robert's, while the Garrett and Collection SLT examples had comparable sharpness but slightly less in the way of flan flaws. As with so many of Robert's coins, this is a piece that was carefully chosen and would be hard to improve upon. Provenance: From the Robert M. Martin Collection. Ex Stack's Sale of the John L. Roper Collection, December 8-9, 1983, lot 242. PCGS Population: 1; none finer for the type. PCGS #352 and #686419. Click here for certification details from PCGS.