1784 Benjamin Franklin / Winged Genius Reverse Cliche. As Betts-619. Tin, 45 mm. MS-61 (PCGS). 528.7 grains. A fascinating piece, noted by Mr. Margolis as "probably unpublished" and unknown to us previously. Golden gray with an applied patina, identified as "bronzed" by Mr. Margolis (and PCGS) though clearly a different kind of patina than the bronzing applied to copper medals struck at the mints of Paris, Birmingham, and Philadelphia. The strike is exacting and finely detailed on a stout prepared planchet, not a typical somewhat messy "splash" of molten tin. A retaining collar of some sort appears to have been used, lending a firm and well executed impression from the finished die. The weight of this piece is more than four times that of the splasher in the previous lot but is quite similar to the 566.0 grain Adams cliche of this finished die. Scattered minor marks and spots are seen, but nothing serious.<p><p>As noted in the previous lot, there are but four of these, including one from an unfinished state and three from the final draft of the die. With the one at the Massachusetts Historical Society forever off the market, two-thirds of the available examples are present here in the Margolis Collection. The existence of this one was unknown until now. From the Richard Margolis Collection. Earlier from Claude Silberstein (Paris), March 2008.
