1787 Machins Mills Halfpenny. Vlack 17-87A, W-7900. Rarity-2. GEORGIVS III, Group II. MS-63 BN (PCGS).119.2 grains. A simply delightful survivor in the Machins Mills halfpenny series, better known for low grade or impaired examples than for Choice Mint State coins with hints of original mint red! Golden brown with steely highlights, the surfaces are glass smooth and a bit flashy as a result. The original mint gloss is essentially unbroken, with ample original mint red populating the areas in and around the legends, the peripheries of the devices, and in the intricacies of the devices-all the most protected regions of a coin where original mint color survives when it persists for well over two centuries. We have seen very few Machins Mills halfpence with mint color; these include some of the Stepney Hoard coins or the Vlack 17-87B plated in color in the Garrett Collection catalog (probably the only sale catalog in history to feature two Machins Mills halfpence on the color plates!). On the E Pluribus Unum example, the designs and legends are fully rendered and boldly struck, with just a hint of softness at the obverse laurel leaves and at the highest points of Britannias torso and drapery. It is quite possibly the finest surviving Vlack 17-87A, more boldly struck than the fully brown Albany (i.e. Ringo) Collection coin also called MS-63, and finer than the very conservatively graded "sharp Extremely Fine" Garrett example. Undoubtedly it is among the top few survivors from the <em>entire</em> series of Machins Mills halfpence. PCGS has graded just this one Machins Mills halfpenny at MS-63 BN, with only three graded slightly lower at MS-62 BN which dont hold a candle to this one. The acquisition of this coin would immediately elevate even the most advanced collection of Machins Mills halfpence.From the E Pluribus Unum Collection.
