1788 Massachusetts Cent. Ryder 13-I, W-6370. Rarity-7-. Fine-12 (PCGS).151.1 grains. Handsome light chocolate brown with subtle striations in the patina on both sides. A trace of microporosity is noted, but there are no serious planchet flaws. A couple of tiny rim nicks and a pair of light scratches cross the central eagle, this area being bulged and therefore more susceptible to handling marks. The reverse is in a rather failed state, the noted bulge passing from the edge at M(ASSACHUSETTS) to the central eagle, then turning upward through the third S of the same word. To a lesser degree, the bulge continues toward the rim just past the final S, where a thin die crack connects the arrow heads to the rim. While traces of the bulge at M may be seen on both of the other examples we have handled in recent years, the bulges are not nearly as well developed as on this specimen, nor is the die crack visible, which clarifies that this failure expanded considerably during this die marriage (the I reverse having also been paired with obverses 12 and 17). These failures do not appear on the Twin Leaf examples of 12-I and 17-I, so this pairing was the last known use of this reverse.pThis variety was called Rarity-7 when we sold the Michael Demling coins in March 2018, with nine known specimens reported. However, within an hour of writing this, another example has been sold on eBay, unattributed, so we have just lowered the rarity a bit to account for it. Still, appearances are very few and far between. Heritage shows no record of ever having sold a 13-I in their online archive, which means that neither the Newman nor Partrick collections contained one, the latter somewhat remarkable as Donald Partrick seems to have aggressively collected this series. We have handled just two in recent years. One was the badly cleaned Ted Craige specimen that brought $18,800 in January 2013, the other was the holed Michael Demling coin. The variety was missing from the Garrett, Taylor, Norweb, and Ford collections, and the ANS doesnt have one, either.From the Twin Leaf Collection of Connecticut & Massachusetts Coppers. Earlier ex Rob Retz; Tom Rinaldo; Stephen Tanenbaum; Stephen Tanenbaum Estate via Anthony Terranova, July 2011.
