1790 Baltimore Standish Barry threepence. W-8510. MS-62 (PCGS).12.1 grains. One of the finest known specimens of this evocative late 18th century rarity. Golden toning dominates highly lustrous surfaces, exhibiting an unusual degree of frosty freshness for the issue. The peripheries are more deeply and distinctively toned, with peeks of blue, rose, and violet in areas. The portrait is as well defined and fully struck as ever seen. The central reverse and peripheries are of near equal boldness, with just highly localized softness at LY of JULY at the base of the obverse and a small area in the border decoration below SH of STANDISH on the reverse. The centering is essentially ideal, unusual for the issue and adding to the importance of this specimen. The edge reeding is crisp and the rims are perfect. A single short scratch is noted between the nose and LT of BALTIMORE in the upper left obverse, a few old lines are noted below the lapel at the base of the obverse, and some trivial hairlines are seen here or there, but no disturbing marks or contact points are present on either side. The surfaces are warm, choice, and place this piece on a level with few other examples of this rare Maryland issue.<p>Our understanding of this issue was revolutionized by Max Spiegels seminal article in the April 2010 <em>Colonial Newsletter</em>, Issue 142, "The Life and Coins of Standish Barry." Spiegel reveals that the obverse portrait belongs not to Barry, or George Washington as had long been surmised, but to Baltimore mayor James Calhoun, a conclusion made possible by the discovery of an 1843 newspaper article and a portrait of the distinctive looking Calhoun himself. Spiegel also discussed the July 4, 1790 date on the coin, making a persuasive case that this date was used to indicate the coin was struck to the standards suggested in Thomas Jeffersons "Plan for Establishing Uniformity in the Coinage, Weights, and Measures of the United States," which was published on July 4, 1790. <p>Spiegels census found 18 specimens, a number to which maybe another half dozen could be safely added, though probably an equal number are impounded. Few rival this one. The Ford example was last sold in the Partrick sale as NGC MS-64; it is particularly lovely, as is the Garrett coin, sold as an EF but as round and complete as this one.<p>Perhaps the highest compliment we can accord this piece is not what was written about it in the 1976 ANA catalog, though that is good: "by far the finest we have seen or handled. Little more can be said about this astonishing rarity except that it must be seen to be believed." The highest compliment, instead, is to note that when Sylvester Crosby had his pick of the great coins in all the great collections he knew of, he chose this example to most clearly represent the type on Plate X of <em>The Early Coins of America</em>. This coin has sold just once since the books publication in 1875.PCGS Population: 1, none finer.From the Archangel Collection. Earlier, from Stack’s 1976 American Numismatic Association sale, August 1976, lot 27; the William Sumner Appleton Collection, to the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society by bequest in 1905.
