1772 Machin’s Mills Halfpenny. Vlack 24-72C, W-7740. Rarity-6. GEORGIVS III. VF-30. 117.4 grains.This is one of the four discovery specimens of the variety noted in TN-100 in the Colonial Newsletter serial no. 70 (June 1985) and was the specimen used to illustrate this article documenting Richard Augusts unearthing of this then new die combination. Though a good handful have been discovered since its initial publication, undoubtedly many of which were found masquerading as worn out halfpence in dealers junk bins, finding an example with any measure of central detail and surface quality, as here, is quite difficult. The obverse die appears to have been almost purposefully damaged at the periphery to simulate wear, and the reverse die shows so much spalling and rust as to diminish or muddle the central and peripheral design details. On this coin, Georges hair, laurel wreath, face and cuirass are quite clear and well-defined, while Britannia exhibits differentiation in her garments and a hint of detail in the Union Jack. Given the lack of detail that was imparted a birth, many specimens of Vlack 24-72C get undergraded by the third party grading services, which misunderstand this die combination; one must give greater weight to the quality of the surfaces and overall degree of wear than to the level of remaining detail. Here we find gentle wear and choice light brown surfaces that show just a peppering of small marks under magnification, and a couple short scratches of varying age in the right reverse field. This one ranks as the 5th finest in Jack Howes records for the variety and would be a stand out coin in even an advanced collection of the series.Ex Richard August and Gary Trudgen Collections.
