1787 Connecticut Copper. Miller 40-N, W-4240. Rarity-6. Draped Bust Left, AUCTOPI. EF-45 (PCGS).144.4 grains. Dies oriented at 270 degrees. The Miller Plate Coin. The Miller Sale Coin. A Clark Reverse Plate Coin. Mike Hodder, when writing up the Ford Collection, called this coin “the sharpest seen by the cataloguer, ” a truthful boast, in as much as this coin appears to be the most finely detailed and highest technical grade example known. The obverse displays a few stray marks of circulation, and a few more on the reverse, while there is a single planchet streak across the obverse effigy and another to left of E of ET on reverse. What looks like a planchet flaw below bust is actually an old dent that has actually been gently ball peen hammered back into place from the edge. Surfaces are glossy and medium brown, and are actually AU or finer from the standpoint of luster and actual wear; and as with almost all other known examples, the face and central reverse are ill-defined as a result of a soft strike in that area. Pretty much well centered on both sides, the date is a bit soft not due to centering issues but because of a planchet cutter lip that bisects the date. Here is an opportunity to obtain an example that outshines all other known examples of this rare die marriage in the realms of color, surfaces, overall superior quality and pedigree.From the Robert M. Martin Collection. Ex Tom Elder’s Sale of the Henry C. Miller Collection, May 29, 1920, lot 2024; Hillyer Ryder Collection (his square ticket is included with this lot ); F.C.C. Boyd Collection; John J. Ford, Jr.; Stack’s Sale of Part 9 of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, May 10, 2005, lot 456.
