1787 (ca. 1869) Excelsior Copper. Indian / Eagle on Globe. Copy by John Adams Bolen. Musante JAB-36, Kenney-7, W-14370. Copper. MS-66 BN (NGC).26.5 mm. An exceptionally attractive example of this popular and scarce colonial copy. The centers display a lovely blend of pale blue-green over medium brown while the peripheries exhibit intense orange red in the recesses. Both sides match nicely in this respect and the eye appeal is superb. Lustrous throughout with essentially no evidence of handling that is worth mentioning, even at this grade. At the lower reverse a few tiny flecks of darker toning are visible under magnification.<p>Nicely struck from an early state of the die with no sign of the large crack through ACUS of EBORACUS that later develops. This break can be seen on the Musante Collection specimen sold by us in 2014, as well as the mulings, M-12 and M-13, in our November 2021 E Pluribus Unum sale. The dies were cut in 1869, and it is likely that all the medals from them were struck that year. It was reported in the January 1870 <em>AJN</em> that a set of three "rare New York pieces" (including this type) had been donated to the ANS and were "the last pieces he intends striking." As the dies were canceled and presented to the Boston Numismatic Society, it is believed that report of 40 struck in copper is fairly accurate. This said, some are probably lost, while others have been artificially worn in an effort to pass them as genuine colonial-era issues. Nice examples are scarce and very desirable.From the Claremont Collection. Earlier ex Presidential Coin & Antique Co., Inc.s Auction Sixty, June 1996, lot 347; Anthony Terranova.
