1786 New Jersey Copper. Maris 24-P, W-4965. Rarity-2. Narrow Shield, Curved Plow Beam. AU-58+ (PCGS). 144.3 grains. 28.5 mm. A high Condition Census example of this Maris number. Choice and fully lustrous light brown, an ideal shade. The surfaces are frosty and immaculate, something close to perfect. A few little specks are seen around A of NOVA, and a tiny nick is seen with scrutiny beneath the plow, but this coin is about as nice for the grade as any New Jersey could be. The reverse retains some pale green and golden tones where mint color was last to fade. The strike is superb, revealing a hint of planchet texture at the soft spot of central reverse, but all other details are supremely sharp and the strike is just about perfectly centered on both sides. A tiny hint of the die edge is visible at the right side of the obverse, but all denticles are complete. Die State 2, with a break below N of NOVA extending into the field. Syd called this a "Br[own] Unc" and wed be hard pressed to argue with his assessment.<p><p>Only one Mint State coin is listed on the SHI Census, the Maris plate coin from Garrett. This piece is ranked second as "AU+," listed with its long and impressive provenance. Others that follow it include the Ford coin, the ODonnell coin, and the Partrick coin, listed as "EF+" but graded NGC MS-62 BN when sold in March 2021. The Partrick coin, ex Mills and Earle, is deserving of a higher rank. (Partrick liked this variety and also owned the Norweb coin and the Spiro-Oechsner coin. Both graded NGC AU-50.) Also missing from the census is the Craige coin, last sold in our April 2022 sale as PCGS AU-55, and the E Pluribus Unum coin, which we sold in November 2019 in the same grade. Despite a census that is rather crowded with great coins, this one comfortably ranks in the top three by any accounting.<p><p>As a type coin, this piece is positively ideal: sharp, struck from attractive dies, lustrous, free of flaws, nicely centered, etc. Its fine provenance only helps its case as something of a perfect high grade Horsehead. PCGS# 801855. From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier ex Virgil Brand Collection; Harold Bareford Collection, via New Netherlands Coin Company, 1951; our (Stacks) sale of the Bareford Collection, March 1984, lot 135; Roy E. "Ted" Naftzger, Jr. Collection, via Anthony Terranova; Lawrence R. Stack Collection, November 2006.
