1787 Connecticut Copper. Miller 32.2-X.2, W-3225. Rarity-5. Draped Bust Left. AU-58 (PCGS).144.9 grains. Beautiful deep chocolate brown with nuances of pale steel blue in the fields at a certain angle to the light. Smooth and hard surfaces with a couple of tiny marks but nothing worth pointing to specifically. A pair of tiny natural flaws are found on the obverse, one hidden near the effigy’s ear, the other just left of the highest laurel leaf. On the reverse, one long, erratic and narrow fissure extends from the rim over LIB to Liberty’s lower legs. The planchet was also a bit flawed on the edge, with an apparent rough or flattened area positioned to the lower left of the date. This has resulted in part of the first two digits being off the flan, though the coin is well struck and nicely centered. A nicely pronounced rim cud is seen above and to the left of Liberty’s head.pBased on the plates and descriptions, this is similar to the Ford coin, with unevenness in different areas, and virtually identical to the 1991 Frontenac Sale coin (lot 341). It also appears much like the Q. David Bowers coin sold in Pine Tree’s 1975 EAC sale, which Walter Breen described as “Partly iridescent, lustrous light olive faded from mint color, suggesting a grade of borderline Unc.” and “Finest known, not even remotely approached by any other auctioned to date…” Indeed, we are hard-pressed to find any other comparable pieces. The Norweb and Oechsner coins were group-lotted and unplated, but graded such that they could not be nearly as nice. This is finer than Taylor, certainly finer than Perkins, superior to both Collection SLT coins and far superior to Newman. Nothing in ANS comes close to the quality offered here, nor is there anything close in the archives of recent sales by us or Heritage. Almost certainly Condition Census and very handsome.From the Twin Leaf Collection of Connecticut & Massachusetts Coppers. Earlier ex Anthony Terranova, 2001.
