1787 Connecticut Copper. Miller 33.28-Z.16, W-3770. Rarity-5. Draped Bust Left, Snipe Nose—Double Struck—EF-40 (PCGS).130.0 grains. An eye-catching error on one of the most eye-catching Connecticut varieties. Glossy and attractive light brown with exceptional surface quality on both sides. Struck first normally, then again about 25% off-center to 2:00 relative to the obverse. The devices are sharp and unflawed on both sides. While this is obviously most desirable as a boldly struck error, it also stands among the top specimens of this die variety simply on the basis of condition. The Hall-Brand-Bareford-Martin coin, graded PCGS AU-55, may be the best of these. As an intense striking error on a coin that already has a famous error — the “Snipe Nose” die break — this piece has a double appeal to those who collect anomalies. Connecticut specialists already know this coin, probably remember the bidding war that happened at its last appearance nearly a decade ago, and will bid accordingly.From the E Pluribus Unum Collection. Earlier from the William Wallace Hays Collection; Hillyer Ryder Collection, via Charles Steigerwalts October 1903 Fixed Price List; F.C.C. Boyd Collection; John J. Ford, Jr.; our (Stack’s) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part IX, May 2005, lot 405; Steve Tanenbaum Collection; our sale of Collection SLT, January 2012, lot 7307 (at $7,475).
