1784 Machins Mills Related Halfpenny. Vlack 14-84A, W-8130. Rarity-5+. GEORGIVS III. EF-45 (PCGS).104.6 grains. Not properly a Machins Mills/Atlee product, though collected with the series since included on the 1974 Vlack Plate, when it was considered Rarity-8. Since these 1784-dated pieces seem to turn up in the United States and not in the U.K., and since there have been reports of ground-found examples in the U.S., its American manufacture and/or circulation has not been doubted. The engraver of this die clearly had skills, though unrefined. Georges bust is competently rendered, even though his small head, and long, sinewy neck are nothing like the original! The letters are oddly spaced as GEORG IVS. III.REX with a huge space following, while all the letters show an unusual sunken frame from the manner in which the letter punches were sunk into the die. This is one of the best examples we have seen in two decades, its chocolate brown surfaces are glossy, not too dark, and supremely attractive. It is well centered on both sides, with much of the crude, sharp-pointed denticulation visible at the peripheries. No specimen of Vlack 14-84A is known with completely struck up details, due to misalignment of the dies, poor strike, or planchet roughness; here we see some of the distinct, undulating planchet texture at Georges head and neck and in the obverse fields, while the reverse is wholly smooth and unaffected. Georges head must have been rendered in rather high relief, as it is never fully detailed, and often creates a corresponding weakness on the reverse, here seen at Britannias left elbow; due to the meandering rotation of the dies, this weakness is not always in the same spot on every specimen. The <em>Whitman Encyclopedia</em> reports the condition census as VF-30 to AU-50, putting this solidly near the top, the closest quality example we have seen being the EF-45 Albany (i.e. Ringo) Collection example that was not as sharp but had overall less textured surfaces on the obverse. More important than its condition census quality is its superior balance of color, appeal, smoothness, centering and strike; it is quite literally the nicest example we have handled.From the E Pluribus Unum Collection.
