1787 Immunis Columbia Copper / Large Eagle Reverse. W-5680. Rarity-4+. Plain Edge, Wide Planchet--Overstruck--Fine-12 Damaged.163.0 grains. 30 mm. One of the most significant offerings in this sale, the diameter of this coin confirms that it is one of the rare wide planchet strikings of the Immunis Columbia / Large Eagle copper. At last four or five wide planchet examples are known, all of which are overstruck, the undertype for three of which has been positively identified as a New Jersey copper of the Maris 26-S variety. This undertype, in fact, was key to solving the mystery of when, where, why, and by whom the Immunis Columbia coppers were produced (see below). For two of the examples the undertype is not discernible. One of those is the Garrett specimen (Bowers and Ruddy, November 1979, lot 605), the strike on which is so strong that it obliterated all but portions of the denticulation of the undertype. The other is the coin offered here, which also seems to have been sharply struck, but which is rough and porous from environmental damage with dominant dark charcoal patina that makes even some of the Immunis Columbia features faint. We do, however, see what appears to be portions of the border of the undertype on the obverse outside the border of the Immunis Columbia design, similar to the Garrett specimen. Despite the aforementioned softness to some design elements, most for the overtype are clear, and some are actually quite bold. Slightly bent with scattered pitting and several bruises and nicks around the borders. Although not a perfect example, the extreme rarity of the wide planchet variant of the Immunis Columbia is sure to result in spirited competition for this coin among advanced collectors.<p>Walter Breen (<em>Encyclopedia</em>, 1988) surmised that these pieces were made as patterns for a proposed U.S. copper coinage, and that they were produced in Rahway, New Jersey from dies by Thomas Atlee -- they do, indeed, have a New Jersey connection, as the four or five known wide planchet examples are all overstruck (definitively or presumably) on New Jersey host coins of the Maris 26-S variety. Our research presented in the Ford II catalog (Stacks May 2004) notes:<p><em>"The mystery surrounding the 1787 Immunis Columbias was solved thanks to the New Jersey 26-S undertype found on the broad planchet variety. The die states of the 26-S showed they were struck late and other evidence dated the late-state 26-S to 1788 or later. Since the broad planchet Immunis were in earlier die states than the narrow planchet ones, it was clear that the entire 1787 Immunis Columbia issue was struck in 1788 or later, not 1787 as had been thought. It appears that it was not a pattern proposal for a federal coinage contract after all."</em><p>As this and certain other coppers of the era listed by some as patterns were made in small quantities and were circulated, this status can be dismissed. Pattern or not, either way the 1787 Immunis Columbia has always been in favor with collectors of early American issues.
