Undated (ca. 1862) U.S. Armory / J.A. Bolen store card muling. Copper. Musante JAB M/E-7. MS-63BN (NGC). Deep golden olive with pale blue mottling on the Armory side, while the reverse retains significant faded red accented by blue. Lustrous and quite attractive with just a few tiny marks and a couple of minor spots. Nice eye appeal for the grade. According to Musante, just six of these are believed to have been struck by George Mason who purchased the dies from Bolen. However, unlike some issues made by purchasers of the dies, these were struck very early, shortly after the dies were cut. Musante states that the dies were cut in 1862, and the earliest auction appearance is in the Finotti Sale, in November 1862. This one has a nice provenance. From the Donald M. Miller Collection; Charles Litman Collection; Q. David Bowers Collection; Tim Gabriele Collection, our sale of November 2017, lot 257.
