1785 Connecticut Copper. Miller 3.4-F.2, W-2345. Rarity-2. Mailed Bust Right, ET LIR. AU-50 (PCGS).145.4 grains. Glossy surfaces that are the color of dark roast coffee beans are the rule on both sides of this well-centered, well struck coin that is actually little worn. Subtle planchet lamination at the rim and edge at obverse 5 o’clock and reverse 2 o’clock positions immediately identify this as a Clark Reverse Plate Coin. Struck from the late states of both dies, the obverse design is wearing out and being pulled toward the peripheries, while the uneven topography of the reverse is due to the advanced sinking and wearing of the die, which also created the ET LIR variety when the lowest stroke of the B wore out, making it look like an R. As might be expected of an R-2 variety, there are a good handful of superb examples of this die marriage, and Robert considered this coin “Probably Condition Census.” Finer pieces include the EAC 1975-Roper specimen, the Steinberg coin, and the Oechsner piece, while a handful of more obscure pieces that Robert had tracked down, such as the Kagin’s September 1978 and Stack’s 1977 T.H. Allen sale specimens are roughly comparable to this one, which carries the elite Robison pedigree.From the Robert M. Martin Collection. Ex Ellis Robison Collection, Stack’s, February 1982, lot 109.