1787 Connecticut Copper. Miller 5-P, W-2815. Rarity-6-. Mailed Bust Left, IN DE. VF-35 (PCGS).127.0 grains. Dies oriented at 90 degrees. A Clark Reverse Plate Coin. Reverse legend awkwardly and unusually split IN DE by the branch hand, a diagnostic of reverses P and Q among the 1787s. An uneven strike has resulted in weakness at the neck and shoulder on the obverse, as well as at the corresponding locations of the reverse (in this case much of the legs, abdomen, outstretched arm, and globe are quite weak). The obverse exhibits only a single small struck through resembling a dent below the first C in CONNEC, and the reverse reveals some scattered light areas of mild staining. The surfaces otherwise enjoy varying shades of pleasant brown patina over fields and devices that offer a smooth and glossy naked eye appearance and show little actual wear. Finer than the comparably sharp but badly flawed 1981 NASCA Kessler sale coin, finer than Ford’s “technically EF” coin, and less well struck than the Choice EF coin overstruck on a 1781 contemporary counterfeit Irish halfpenny. In light of the inferior technical grade and/or serious planchet defects that are evident on nearly all examples of this die variety, we feel comfortable placing this specimen among the finest known, as did Robert.From the Robert M. Martin Collection. Ex Sylvester S. Crosby Collection; Garrett Family Collection; Bowers and Ruddy’s Sale of the Garrett Collection, Part III, October 1-2, 1980, lot 1352; Stack’s Americana Sale of January 2009, lot 7299.
