1786 Connecticut Copper. Miller 5.1-H.1, W-2540. Rarity-5+. Mailed Bust Left. VF-20 (PCGS).143.4 grains. Called “Nice Very Fine” on Robert’s envelope, an apt designation for a coin with such beautifully smooth, glossy, olive brown surfaces that are absent all but the most minor of marks—a small planchet fleck at tip of bust, and a disperse trio of circulation marks on the reverse are all that should be noted. Both sides a trifle tightly centered, with consequent loss to minor outer portions of some letters and numerals. Though the obverse die was created by the hubbing process, Randy Clark postulates that the impression of the obverse hub into the die steel was weak, necessitating extensive hand embellishment of the design features; in addition, the die steel was clearly inferior, as it sunk in a wide horizontal swath across its middle, creating the mounded area on the struck coin that made it more prone to wear, as here.From the Robert M. Martin Collection. Ex Bowers and Ruddy’s sale of the Julius Turoff Collection, October 1-2, 1976, lot 539; Bowers and Merena’s sale of the Collection of Stuart C. Levine, M.D., April 10-11, 1986, lot 859.