1787 New Jersey copper. Maris 71-y. Rarity-6. Plaited Mane. Overstruck on a Cast Counterfeit George II English Halfpenny. Fine-12 (PCGS).124.1 grains. One of the most desirable rarities in the Maris canon, here represented by Maris’ own. Dark brown with lighter brown design elements on not quite smooth surfaces. Neither pitted nor glossy, but somewhat scaly from the decidedly unusual undertype: a cast counterfeit George II English halfpenny. The composition appears somewhat brassy, and a bulge atop George’s portrait (at the lower right of the New Jersey shield) appears to have hosted the casting sprue when this undertype was first made. The truncation of George’s bust is visible through PLURIBUS, the ordinal II is at 6:00 on the New Jersey reverse, NIA of BRITANNIA runs along the obverse periphery right of 12:00, and the shield beneath seated Britannia emerges from the horsehead like Athena from the mind of Zeus. Some of the New Jersey dies’ details are visible too: NOVA, the horsehead and plow, a fairly crisp shield. The reverse is rotated about 45 degrees counterclockwise from proper coin turn. No bad marks or damage are seen, and the visual appeal is excellent for this enigmatic variety.<p>Like 70-x, 72-z, 73-aa, this Plaited Mane variety is not linked via die marriage to any others. Still these are all clearly kin, struck from similar dies with similar technology over similar host planchet stock. Among this charismatic foursome, only the Maris 70-x is rarer. Like the 70-x, this is a variety that basically doesn’t exist in high grade. Anton is said to own an AU and a VF, both atop the SHI Condition Census but both unverified by the authors. The top grade piece that they’ve confirmed and illustrated is the coin in third rank, the VF Spiro-Boyd coin that Anton bought in the Frontenac sale. Chris Young owns the Boyd-Ford coin, ranked fourth and graded VF-, and the four that follow are all listed as Fine, including this one in eighth and final position.<p>Any Maris Plate coin is special, of course, but very few of the coins he used were featured on both sides. This coin is one of eight Maris Plate coins in the current sale, and is the only one featured for both obverse and reverse images. This piece has sold just twice in the last 135 years: at the Maris sale of 1886 and the Garrett sale of 1980.From the E Pluribus Unum Collection of New Jersey Coppers. Earlier, from the Dr. Edward Maris Collection; H.P. Smith’s sale of the Dr. Edward Maris Collection, June 1886, lot 484; T. Harrison Garrett Collection; Johns Hopkins University; Bowers and Ruddy Galleries’ sale of the Garrett Collection, Part III, October 1980, lot 1476.
