Undated (ca. 1863) Bar Copper. Copy by John Adams Bolen. Musante JAB-2, Kenney-1, W-14220. Silver. MS-63 (PCGS).25 mm. Fairly uniform medium to dark silver gray surfaces with nuances of olive and pale blue toning, the latter especially noted in the recesses of the reverse bar design. Obverse struck slightly off center toward 4 oclock as commonly seen on this issue in either composition, while the reverse is better centered, again, as usual. Sharply struck and beautifully preserved with many of Bolens fine die-finishing lines clearly visible.<p>As reprinted by Musante, W. Elliot Woodward published in June 1862 that he had purchased Bolens dies for the Bar cent facsimile "for the purpose of suppressing them, as the pieces struck from them are among the most dangerous counterfeits." Though the design of this issue is not a complex one, this can be taken as a recognition of Bolens skill early on, but it also represented a marketing opportunity for Woodward who, then in a position to control the output, could offer a very limited edition of specialty pieces in silver, and have the dies destroyed. It would appear that Bolen struck none in silver. No examples are known to us in either composition with Bolens personal edge marking, though some were reported to have been struck in copper while the dies were still in his ownership. Woodward had George Hampden Lovett strike the Bar cents in silver, and published that the mintage would be limited to 12, sold at $4 each. Perhaps no more than half of that mintage is accounted for today, as we find only six in major sale offerings, including this. None are found on the ANS site, and this type was missing altogether from the remarkable E Pluribus Unum Collection included in our November 2021 sale. Hillyer C. Ryder, F.C.C Boyd, John J. Ford, Q. David Bowers and Neil Musante all owned the same specimen in silver. This one is new to our archives.From the Claremont Collection. Acquired privately from Kevin Vinton, March 2019.
