1783 John Chalmers Sixpence. W-1770. Large Date. Period After Date. Genuine--Holed and Plugged (PCGS). VF Details. An historically important specimen of this significant early American rarity. Smooth and attractive light silver-gray with faint iridescent toning, developed over a century and a half in various cabinets. Better struck than many of these, denticles visible over APOLIS on the obverse, reverse ideally centered. The axial alignment has left all of this coin struck up; many specimens show VF detail on one side and VG detail on the other. Some very faint planchet striations visible on the obverse, a few little contact marks on that side. Reverse shows a pin scratch from below the date across the cuff of the left shaking hand. Plugged and re-engraved at the star between SIX and PENCE (IS on the other side), accomplished before 1882 as this plug is visible in the Bushnell plate from that year. The initial T (for Thomas) is as bold as ever seen at one point of the reverse cross; S (for Sparrow) about half visible at the opposite but a bit soft at top. Despite its flaws, the visual appeal is excellent. It is telling that Charles Ira Bushnell, who started collecting before 1850, was never able to find a better Chalmers sixpence than this one. The same could be said for Joseph Mickley, who was collecting as early as 1841, when this coin was nearly as old as a Wartime Jefferson nickel is now! Breen used the Bushnell plate as the source for an image of this coin; apparently no more recent appearances could be found when he compiled the book in the 1980s. The sharpness is excellent, the color is nice, and the provenance is positively unable to be surpassed. While not perfect, this piece will also not command the mid five-figure price of an unflawed piece in similar grade.In the 1882 Bushnell sale, this piece was described as "Fine for this piece, but has been plugged between SIX and pence, and then engraved. Extremely rare." Henry Chapman had a chance to describe the coin again four decades later in the 1921 Jenks sale: "Very Good. Has been holed at I of ANNAPOLIS and filled in and re-engraved on the I and also star on rev. Extremely rare." W. Elliot Woodward did not mention the plug in 1867, but named copies of that sale indicate Bushnell was the buyer -- it is doubtful he would have bought an unplugged piece in 1867 but then swapped for a plugged one before 1882. This leads to an interesting question: did Woodward not know the coin was plugged? Or, more likely, was he the one who had the coin plugged before he offered the Mickley Collection (which he had bought outright) at auction? From W. Elliot Woodwards sale of the Joseph J. Mickley Collection, October 1867, lot 2530; S.H. and Henry Chapmans sale of the Charles I. Bushnell Collection, June 1882, lot 1000 (plated); Henry Chapmans sale of the John Story Jenks Collection, December 1921, lot 5525; Groghan and Companys sale of duplicates from the Dedham (MA) Historical Society, May 2004; our (Stacks) Louis E. Eliasberg, Jr. Estate and Chester L. Krause Collection sale, March 2010, lot 2114. The plate coin for the variety in Breens Encyclopedia, page 101.
