1771 Machins Mills Halfpenny. Vlack 3-71B, W-7680. Rarity-5. GEORGIVS III, Group I. AU-53 (PCGS).125.6 grains. A simply exquisite example of this die marriage, with golden-brown surfaces that are lighter in color where the original mint color was the last to fade. The fields are full of the gloss that marks only the highest grade Confederation era coppers. The obverse is centered towards 6 oclock, the reverse towards 12 oclock, the distinct triangles of the sawtooth denticles in full view along much of the peripheries. This is one of the stars among the E Pluribus Unum Collections Machins Mills halfpence; its color is choice for any colonial copper, much less for a Vlack 3-71B, which more often than not comes with less than ideal surfaces. Of the more than 10 we have offered over the decades, just the PCGS VF-25 Jack Royse coin we sold in 2012 is remotely memorable and choice and Ringos raw VF-35 has some rough patches. This example is essentially perfect for a 1771 Machin, with just some minor, natural planchet texture at the obverse center and a small vertical planchet mark at reverse center. Struck from the late die states of both dies, the obverse shows advanced spalling above Georges head in addition to the usual uneven die crack below his bust, while the reverse die has developed a distinct "cud" die break to the left of Britannias head. Obverse very, very closely double struck. This is the finest certified 1771 Machins Mills halfpenny both for the variety and the date, and we would not have been surprised if PCGS had called this AU-55. It is undoubtedly condition census and very well may be the finest known Vlack 3-71B, though rivaled by a gorgeous specimen of the early, cudless die state whose reverse is plated on Jack Howes plate of "Counterfeit English Halfpence Struck in Early America."From the E Pluribus Unum Collection.
