1786 Connecticut Copper. Miller 5.6-M, W-2600. Rarity-6. Mailed Bust Left. VG-8 (PCGS).132.3 grains. Pleasing medium brown with even microporosity seen under magnification. Natural flaws at the center of the portrait and at the colon after CONNEC, extend more shallowly into the mail. Weakness at the upper left obverse and lower left reverse is common to the variety due to die failure. This obverse is very similar to Miller 5.5 and coins are often mistaken for 5.6-M due to an erroneous plate in the Taylor catalog where a 5.5-M is shown but a 5.6-M is described. The Whitman emEncyclopedia/em plates are correct, as are those in the Perkins sale, and both are valuable points of reference. While the dies are very close, the 5.6 obverse tends to have small breaks from the rim to the rear base of the truncation and from the rim to the colons after AUCTORI, which helps to clarify the proper attribution.From the Twin Leaf Collection of Connecticut & Massachusetts Coppers. Earlier ex Sixth Annual C4 Convention sale, November 2006:128.
