1787 New Jersey copper. Maris 37-Y. Rarity-5. Outlined Shield, Goiter. EF-45 (PCGS).168.3 grains. Golden olive with good eye appeal, smoother than the heavily spalled and broken dies would suggest. The obverse is well struck and well centered, and the reverse shows better detail than often seen on its low relief shield. The planchet is a bit crudely made, with a tab above the top of the reverse and some irregularity on the obverse rim at 1:00. Scattered striations and inherent roughness is noted, most severe at the lower left quadrant of the reverse. Die State 4, with the usual bulge at the lower left of the shield and abundant spalling under the plow bar. The goiter is well developed, and the horsehead shows more detail than almost ever seen, including a very bold eye. No bad marks or scratches are noted on either side.<p>This variety offers difficulties in building a Condition Census. The reverse rarely shows much detail, and the planchets often have the glossy smoothness of an oatmeal raisin cookie. Comparing this coin to, for instance, the very nice Boyd-Ford coin is challenging: this one has a sharper eyeball, but does that make it higher grade? In terms of eye appeal and sharpness, this one is at least as nice as that one, which is the Siboni, Howes, Ish plate coin and ranked fourth in their seven-coin census. The finest listed is a single VF, in the Moore Collection. The next three are listed as F+, the remainder F. This is at least as good as most of them and probably better than most. Given that its sharpness matches the Hessberg-Dr. Gordon Shaw coin, but the surfaces are smoother, it should probably be ranked second finest known. That coin, ranked second in the SHI Condition Census, was last offered in our March 2017 auction and is easily the best one we’ve sold since the 2003 Ford sale.From the E Pluribus Unum Collection of New Jersey Coppers.
