1787 Connecticut Copper. Miller 33.21-k.4, W-3680. Rarity-7-. Draped Bust Left, Skeleton Hand—Double Struck, Reverse Indent Strike—VF-25 (PCGS).137.0 grains. Struck first on-center, then again about 20% off-center, the obverse die struck but the reverse is an indent strike, as there was an intervening planchet that would have become an off-center brockage strike. The obverse is sharper than the VF-25 grade might indicate, while the reverse has been somewhat flattened by the second, indent strike, giving the illusion of wear. Dark brown and smoothly worn, the high points a lighter olive brown hue, the overall surfaces subtly microgranular, without detriment. Under a dozen are known of this die pairing, and this superb error coin may rank as one of the finest, or even the overall finest known example. The 1975 Pine Tree EAC coin was called “Very Fine” but was poorly struck over 1/3 of its surface; a piece in a private collection in the 1990s was sharper but granular and poorly struck like the 1975 EAC coin; the Perkins coin was Fine and quite rough in places; the Collection SLT-Twin Leaf coin is the only other piece we have sold in recent years, most recently graded by PCGS as VF Details—Tooled. This last piece has vacillated in price over the years, bringing $6325 (2012), $11, 750 (2016), and $2, 880 (2019). Considered Rarity-8 in the 1975 EAC Sale, this die marriage is understandably missing from many of the great collections of Connecticut Coppers sold in the last 50 years, including Boyd-Ford, Oechsner, Hessberg and Norweb. Here is a coin destined for the cabinet of a collector who has patiently waited for a choice example of this die pairing to come to market, an example that is at once a wonderful error coin and potentially the finest known as well.From the Robert M. Martin Collection. Ex Bowers and Merena’s Sale of the Frederick B. Taylor Collection, March 26-28, 1987, lot 2555.
