1787 New Jersey copper. Maris 35-J. Rarity-6-. Deer Head, 1787/1887. Overstruck on contemporary counterfeit English halfpenny. VF Detail, Environmental Damage (PCGS).129.8 grains. A good-looking example of this rare variety, featuring the only overdate in the New Jersey series. Dark olive with a finely granular obverse that retains good gloss and a more heavily granular reverse. Well centered with a clear date, bold legends, and good details on the central devices. The back of George III’s portrait is clear at the central obverse, with enough detail from the hair bow to preclude the undertype being any of the productions of Machin’s Mills. The reverse is less defined, but Britannia’s sprig hand is clear below UNUM. The die state appears fairly early, considering how much central detail is present, probably Die State 2. The reverse is perhaps 30 degrees clockwise of proper coin turn.<p>This is a tough variety to find at all, let alone find nice. A look at the SHI Condition Census is instructive. Eight coins are listed: one EF, three VF+ pieces, and four VFs. The two in the Anton holdings are noted as unverified. Among the best ones, not a single auction provenance is listed. One of these is probably Spiro:1508, which looks pretty nice. Others described as Condition Census in the golden era of modern New Jersey sales (Bareford, Foreman, Saccone/Resigno, Frontenac, Henry Garrett/Spring Quartette) don’t really measure up to VF-EF quality. The Maris-Garrett coin is pretty nice, but isn’t quite as nice as this one; it is illustrated as the plate coin in the Siboni, Howes, and Ish book and with the description of the Garrett 36-J in the 1980 Garrett II catalog.<p>We have not sold a specimen of this die marriage since 2013, and none of the ones we’ve offered in the last 15 years have been particularly pretty. The top ranked piece in the census came through a June 2011 Heritage sale, where it was undercataloged and sold for a relative song considering its importance. It’s the only specimen they’ve ever offered. When Mike Hodder cataloged the Ford New Jerseys, he had seen only 14 of these; he had seen seven in 1988, of which three had visible undertypes and four did not. Bill Anton called this variety low Rarity-7 in his 1975 CNL article. Mossman listed just four overstruck specimens in his Appendix 2 study of overstruck coppers. Low Rarity-6 may be too low for this variety; alternatively, the population of Maris 35-J is weighted toward low grade specimens and they seem to trade privately, if at all.<p>This is probably the nicest Maris 35-J to sell at auction since this piece last appeared in 1984.From the E Pluribus Unum Collection of New Jersey Coppers. Earlier, from Stack’s sale of the Richard Picker Collection, October 1984, lot 209; William Anton Collection; E Pluribus Unum Collection, via Larry Stack.
