1784 Benjamin Franklin / Winged Genius Reverse Cliche. As Betts-619. Tin, 44.2-45.2 mm. MS-63 (PCGS). 116.3 grains. A cliche of remarkable quality, with even light silver gray surfaces and superb visual appeal. This piece captures the state of the die in the midst of its preparation, with peripheral legends and central devices complete but the exergual legend not yet sunk into the die. The definition is excellent throughout, and in the exergue the engravers guide lines are apparent; concentric arcs define the space from the rim while vertical lines are present to help place and orient the exergual legend to come. The reverse retains much of the paper backing, as poured. Metal flow fissures are seen at the right periphery, but few post-striking distractions are noted. The marks and abrasions that are present are trivial, all less notable than a blended old scratch in the lower right field.<p><p>We know of four cliches of this reverse die: the Adams piece, this one at the Massachusetts Historical Society, and the two in the Margolis Collection. This is the only one from an unfinished state of the die. Notably, all lack the usual rim cud over SCEPTRUM, seen on all known specimens in silver and bronze.<p><p>As an impression made before the die was finished, much less hardened, we can rest assured that this cliche was made in Dupres workshop by Dupre himself. None of these were in the Dupre Estate, and Adams and Bentley located only one other splasher from this die in the places where pieces from Narcisse Dupres inheritance ended up, at the Massachusetts Historical Society. They found none at the American Philosophical Society or the Boston Public Library, and Ford never acquired one either. From the Richard Margolis Collection. Earlier from George Fuld in March 1972; our (Bowers and Merenas) sale of the Lucien LaRiviere Collection, Part III, May 2001, lot 1117.
