1787 New York Excelsior copper. Standing Indian, Eagle on Globe. Breen-991, W-5800. F-12 (PCGS).116.3 grains. Reverse 30 degrees counterclockwise from coin turn. An apparently new entry to the census, perhaps the 11th known specimen of this important rarity. Dark brown with lighter tan devices over evenly granular surfaces. A very handsome piece despite its grade, with good sharpness and attractive contrast. Both sides are just slightly aligned to the right, barely affecting the tops of the obverse legend at 3:00. Some faint old scratches blend into the lower left obverse field, and a more aggressive but equally ancient batch is seen under the wing to the right of the eagle. The overall effect is of an attractive coin that circulated for some time, spent some time in the ground, but stands today as a highly collectible example of this variety.<p>Crosby noted that this variety was far rarer than the Standing Indian copper with the New York Arms reverse. Today, it is only slightly rarer, but many of the specimens known today have provenance chains that begin well after the time of Crosby’s writing. Parmelee’s Uncirculated example went to Brand, and the high grade Stickney piece went to Garrett. Another Stickney coin, the one sold in the 1907 Henry Chapman sale, was Brand’s duplicate. This example resembles the Groves sale piece from November 1974 but is a different specimen. It takes its place at or near the bottom of the census of known specimens, but with an historical richness equal to any.PCGS Population: 2; 5 finer (MS-64 BN finest).From the Archangel Collection. Acquired from Stack’s, privately, May 1977.
