1787 Connecticut Copper. Miller 38-GG, W-4205. Rarity-4. Draped Bust Left, AUCIORI. AU-53 (PCGS).157.1 grains. A Clark Obverse and Reverse Plate Coin. Chocolate brown and glossy, with lighter golden tan tones around the lettering where the original mint color was last to fade. About as crisply and evenly struck as one could hope to see on a Draped Bust Left Connecticut, with even the lines of latitude and longitude clear and sharp on the globe on which Liberty sits. Just a trifling softness is noted after E of INDE, a condition seen on multiple survivors of this die marriage. A shallow stain is noted around obverse effigy’s chest, and another small one is hidden in the lower laurel leaves. Said to have come from the Stepney Hoard, a not unsurprising provenance for a coin of such high quality. A few high grade specimens exist, some of which are slightly flawed—the Connecticut State Library example appears to be a badly flawed AU, the Bowers and Ruddy Turoff Sale piece is called “Extremely Fine as struck” but is poorly struck on a rough planchet, while a piece in our (Stack’s) sale of April 1988 is a decent EF. This Roper Collection is better than the examples in recent name collections, such as Ford, Collection SLT, Newman and Twin Leaf. Great quality meets great provenance, a not unusual collision of factors in the Martin Collection.From the Robert M. Martin Collection. Ex 1975 EAC Convention Sale, Pine Tree Auctions, February 15, 1975, lot 136; Stack’s Sale of the John L. Roper Collection, December 8-9, 1983, lot 251. Said ex Stepney Hoard in the 1975 EAC catalogue.
