1773 Virginia Halfpenny. Newman 27-J, W-1585. Rarity-2. Period After GEORGIVS, 7 Harp Strings. MS-62 RB (PCGS). OGH.Glints of bright salmon pink shine forth powerfully from the protected areas around the devices of this otherwise warmly toned gray-brown example. Lustrous with a satin to semi-reflective finish from the dies, both sides also sport bold to sharp detail from a well centered strike. Newman 27-J is one of the more frequently encountered die marriages of the 1773 Virginia halfpenny and appears to have been well represented in the hoard of more than 5,000 Mint State examples once held by Col. Mendes I. Cohen of Baltimore, Maryland. Although the late Walter Breen offered several different stories for the background of this hoard, Michael J. Hodder (as related in Bowers Whitman Encyclopedia of Colonial and Early American Coins, 2009) believes that Cohen received the hoard from his father Israel I. Cohen upon the latters death in 1801. The Cohens were prominent in Baltimore banking, and it is likely that Israel obtained these coins through his business activities. The Cohen hoard was dispersed over an extended period of time beginning in 1875, and hundreds of examples were still held intact as late as the 1950s. Today, Mint State Virginia halfpence of all varieties and from all sources are widely dispersed, an offering such as this representing a significant find for both high grade type collectors and colonial coin specialists.
