1786 New Jersey Copper. Maris 24-M, W-4960. Rarity-7+. Wide Shield. VG-10 (PCGS). 134.7 grains. 28.5 mm. Since its discovery in 1969, just six examples of this combination of (otherwise available) dies have been identified. Interestingly, though five were discovered between this variety’s first auction appearance in 1969 and its second in 1996, just one has been identified in the last 26 years: the granular VF Details, Environmental Damage (PCGS) specimen that sold for $45,600 in our March 2020 sale. This example is two-tone tan and dark olive steel, the lighter devices providing good contrast to the glossy but finely granular fields. The centering is about ideal on both sides, with full frames of denticles on each. The date is not visible, but other major design elements are all present, including some of the shield lines near the base. A few old scratches are seen at the right obverse, oriented nearly vertically, and a swoosh-shaped hairline scratch is wore into the central shield, but no significant nicks or bruises are seen. The visual appeal, for a coin of this grade, actually isn’t too bad. The discovery coin remains the finest known, last offered in Harmer Rooke’s Million Dollar Sale of November 1969. This example, the second one identified, was discovered in 1968 and sold privately in 2013; it has never been published or offered at public auction. The third finest, graded VG+ on the SHI Census, has never been sold at auction. Each of the others have sold once. In 1996, the fourth finest known sold as lot 31 in that year’s C4 sale of the Scott Barnes Collection.. The fifth finest sold in the 2001 C4 sale as lot 233. The census placement of the example we sold in 2020 depends on how seriously one values surface over sharpness, but it’s probably in the top three. Any opportunity to buy a solidly Rarity-7 New Jersey copper is unusual and important, of course. But varieties like this prove the adage that sometimes the chance to buy an example is rarer than the coin. The time elapsed between the first auction offering and the second was 27 years, and 19 years passed between the sale of the 2001 C4 example and our 2020 offering. This generation has an especially rare opportunity to try their luck at acquiring this elusive Maris number again now. No example of this variety was included in any named major collection: Ford, Newman, Partrick, E Pluribus Unum, Shaw, O’Donnell, Spiro, ad nauseam, ad infinitum. PCGS# 811640. From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier ex Harold Hess, 1968; William T. Anton, Jr Collection via Mike Wierzba, January 2013.
