1760 Voce Populi Farthing. Nelson-1, W-13800. Large Letters. AU-58+ (PCGS).57.0 grains. Enthusiasts of pre-Federal coinage know that numerical grades rarely tell the whole story of the quality or desirability of a coin such as this. In the days before numerical grading, this specimen would be counted as one of the very finest known, even though today Population Reports list several that have been accorded higher grades. The surfaces are glossy and smooth, an ideal shade of dark chocolate brown with some lighter brown highlights. The reverse gloss is frosty enough to call it lustrous. The most important indications of the quality of this piece are its centering and, most vitally, its strike. Whereas most Voce Populi farthings show a substantial depression on the reverse opposite the portrait, this example is fully struck, with a strike bold enough to have obliterated not only the typical softness, but also the granular inherent planchet texture seen on the central reverse of nearly all “well struck” examples. This piece is fully detailed, with visible design elements that not one in a thousand examples retain. The reverse is ideally centered, the obverse is nearly so, with a broad arc of denticles framing the bottom of that side. Both sides show clashing, but the dies are not as fatigued as often seen on specimens struck from later states. This is a stunning example of this popular type, one long collected in this country and known to have been found in American soil.<p><p>From the E Pluribus Unum Collection.
