1787 Connecticut Copper. Miller 37.8-HH, W-4145. Rarity-5+. Draped Bust Left, ETLIR. AU-53 (PCGS).131.0 grains. Called “Light olive, faintly lustrous surfaces suggesting a grade near[er] to AU than to EF” in the 1975 EAC Sale, AU-55 by NERCA, and now AU-53 by PCGS. Whatever the grade, this example appears to be the finest known, with most known survivors grading VF or less. The obverse of this die pairing almost always has a muddled look, as the die was quite worn when mated with reverse HH; here the look is almost fuzzy, the result of die bounce that created two closely overlapping strikes that Breen called “chattered” in his 1975 cataloguing. A planchet flaw at shoulder looks like 2 parallel lines, while a small planchet flaw is noted to right of shield on reverse. Well struck but from axially misaligned dies, creating a weakness in Liberty’s head and lower parts of obverse effigy’s drapery. A Stepney Hoard coin that is also potentially the only AU survivor of the die marriage; this auction represents the best opportunity since the 2010 Keller sale to acquire a Stepney Hoard Connecticut Copper.From the Robert M. Martin Collection. Ex Stepney Hoard (1951); Ex 1975 EAC Convention Sale, Pine Tree Auctions, February 15, 1975, lot 159; New England Rare Coin Auctions Sale of December 3, 1976, lot 8.
