1670s NJ 1/4P Saint Patrick, BN MS(PCGS#42)

The November 2012 Baltimore Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

6190

等级

MS64

价格

27,475

详细说明

The Famous Saint Patrick Farthing Forgery Same Dies as the Gold Norweb "Guinea" Undated St. Patrick or Mark Newby Farthing Forgery. Copper. MS-64. 83.1 grains. A coin that calls attention to itself instantly as different, particularly among such a substantial collection of Saint Patrick's pieces. The surfaces are smooth and lustrous chocolate brown, completely unlike a typical Saint Patrick farthing not just by virtue of its extraordinary grade, but also of its texture, the lack of basining to the fields, the engraving of legends and devices, and other considerations. The splash is precisely centered on the crown in a perfect circle, quite distinctive from a normal piece. The planchet is both thinner than a typical Saint Patrick farthing and far more irregular in shape. There has been some effort at applying a reeded edge to the top of the coin, but it too is dissimilar from a standard piece. The sharpness of this piece is extraordinary. It clearly saw no wear. We offer this piece as an historical curiosity, unsure of its age. Eric Newman wrote passionately about the pieces from these dies, exposing them as highly questionable, in the May 1963 issue of The Numismatist. The Norweb II catalog runs through the issues with the unique gold specimen struck from these dies in great detail; we refer interested bidders to it. Ted Craige made no indication on his envelope that he believed this coin was anything but genuine, describing it as "Unc, on smooth irregular shaped plan" and listing an inventory number from "RP." The Norweb gold piece was donated to the ANS as a study piece, where it remains. This will surely see active bidding as a study piece for either a leading private collection or for donation to an institution. PCGS# 42. Provenance: From the Ted L. Craige Collection. Purchased from Richard Picker.