1787 Connecticut Copper. Miller 33.19-Z.14, W-3655. Rarity-7-. Draped Bust Left. Very Fine.116.1 grains. A recently confirmed example of this rare die pairing, and of exceptional quality that exceeds that of all other specimens known to us. Both sides are pleasingly and originally toned in autumn-brown, the surfaces satiny and hard with no porosity or other environmental damage. Struck on a flawed planchet with the most significant fissures and flaws on the effigys cheek and at the back of the neck, on the reverse near the seated figures left elbow and on the shield. Centers softly struck with original planchet roughness, especially on the reverse, although the detail is appreciably bolder toward the borders. Obverse well centered, the reverse drawn trivially to 6 oclock with only the very bottom of the date off the flan.<p>According to Q. David Bowers in his <em>Whitman Encyclopedia of Colonial and Early American Coins</em> (2009), this variety was discovered in the 1940s, long after Millers work, by John M. Richardson. We (Stacks) published the finding in 1946, in our publication, <em>Numismatic Review</em>. The first public offering of the variety was in Pine Trees 1975 EAC sale, lot 253, when the then still unique Richardson discovery specimen was sold. It reappeared in our (Bowers and Merenas) 1987 sale of the Frederick Taylor Collection, lot 2548, still unique. Perkins had one, which was rather similar to the Collection SLT-Twin Leaf specimen, the latter certified VF Details--Environmental Damage by PCGS at the time of our Spring 2019 Baltimore Auction. Other examples are the Peter Scherff specimen sold in our (Stacks) March 2010 sale, where it was graded VG, with environmental damage, and the Colonial Newsletter Foundation coin, now in the ANS and not much different in appearance from the Scherff coin. Robert Martin reported eight pieces in his annotations of Perkins, not including the present coin, though two of his entries were the same piece. Clearly a significant find for the advanced Connecticut copper enthusiast, and sure to see spirited bidding at auction.
