1787 New Jersey Copper. Maris 27-j, W-5060. Rarity-6+. Small Planchet, Plain Shield. Fine-12 (PCGS). 144.8 grains. 27.9 mm. A coin of dramatic historic importance in the annals of New Jersey copper collecting. This exact coin was the very first New Jersey copper discovered by someone other than Dr. Maris to be from a die pair not described in the Maris book. Credit for the discovery probably belongs to David Proskey, the principal cataloger of the New York Coin and Stamp partnership (Harlan Page Smith was the other partner). In the 1890 Parmelee sale, Proskey described this coin as "New Jersey: Cent, 1787, good: M. 27-j; a combination not mentioned in Maris." Since that time, a dozen or so additional specimens have been discovered, the vast majority of them offering little aesthetic interest.<p><p>This piece is extremely attractive for the variety, with pleasing olive and gold surfaces. The fields are a little darker, the devices a bit lighter and more golden. Good gloss persists despite extremely fine granularity. The reverse is slightly double struck, but bold and well-centered, with a wealth of detail remaining in the shield. The obverse is aligned to 1:00, as almost always seen, with CAESAREA against the edge of the planchet and a frame of denticles at the base of that side. A long old scratch extends nearly rim to rim across the obverse, from below N of NOVA to beyond the end of the plow. The rims are sound, and no significant marks are seen.<p><p>The SHI Census ranks this as sixth best, grading it "F+." The best is the Spiro-Oechsner-ODonnell coin, graded "EF-." Aside from this coin, the rest of the top six are all in the VF range. Of them, only the Taylor coin (ranked fifth) has had an auction appearance. The fourth ranked coin is in the ANS and, thus, likely never will. The E Pluribus Unum Maris 27-j was graded "Fine Detail, Damage" but brought $5,040; it was the best of the four discrete specimens weve sold since the Ford sale. Partrick lacked this number entirely.<p><p>The Siboni-Howes-Ish book usefully clears up a provenance error included in the Ford sale. This piece was never owned by Dr. Thomas Hall, but was instead acquired at the Parmelee sale by the little known collector John E. Bull of Connecticut. Bull also bought the then-unique Maris 81 from the sale, a coin that later ended up in the Boyd Collection via Hillyer Ryder. We suspect this piece took the same route. PCGS# 767895. From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier from New York Coin and Stamp Co.s sale of the Lorin G. Parmelee Collection, June 1890, lot 401; John E. Bull Collection; (likely) Hillyer Ryder Collection to F.C.C. Boyd; Boyd Estate to John J. Ford, Jr.; our (Stacks) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection Part I, October 2003, lot 123; Ray Williams Collection, August 2006.
