1724 Wood’s Hibernia Pattern Halfpenny. Martin 9.2-Nb.1, W-unlisted. Rarity-7. SP-53 (PCGS).117.8 grains. An important rarity with a remarkable provenance. Lovely rich medium brown, with some subtle woodgraining between lighter and darker tones in the obverse field. Smooth and glossy, with very pleasing eye appeal on both sides. Some old encrustation surrounds most design elements, and a halo of thin patina surrounds the seated Hibernia where some may have been gently coaxed away. Some minor marks are seen, the most notable of which is a short scratch from the base of S in GEORGIUS to the back of Georges head.<p><p>In Lyman Lows offering of the United States portion of the Ulex Collection in 1902, he described this coin as "1724 Halfpenny. A head differing from any of the preceding … A pattern; fine, and extremely rare, even excelling the famous Rocks behind the setd. figure, which has a record of $25." Low was right, and this highlight of the sale brought $54, a figure that was published in the August 1902 issue of <em>The Numismatist</em>. It gained value between the Ulex sale and the Mills sale of 1906, where this coin brought $61, described as "Very fine, appears to have been a bronze proof. Extremely rare."<p><p>As noted in the previous lot description, this coin is of the same type but a different pair of obverse and reverse dies entirely. There are about 10 known of this type, of which six or seven are this die variety. The unique silver example at Colonial Williamsburg is also struck from this die marriage. Three of these are nice Uncirculated examples (Ford, Newman, and Colonial Williamsburg). The Norweb coin is AU-58+ (PCGS). This one would come next in order, followed by the Craige:156 PCGS SP-50. <p><p>Imported into the United States from a German consignment in 1902, this piece has graced three preeminent cabinets since then: Mills, Garrett, and Martin. <p>.PCGS# 921354. NGC ID: AZ2R.<strong>To view supplemental information and all items from the Sydney F. Martin Collection, click<a href="https://stacksbowers.com/sydney-f-martin-collection/"target=’_blank’> here.</a></strong>.From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier ex the Georg F. Ulex (Hamburg, Germany) Collection; Lyman Lows sale of the Ulex Collection, July 1902, lot 60; John G. Mills Collection; S.H. and Henry Chapmans sale of the Mills Collection, April 1904, lot 100; our (Bowers and Ruddys) sale of the Garrett Collection, Part III, October 1980, lot 1274; US Marshals sale of August 2000; Stuart Levine, August 2000.
