1724 Rosa Americana Pattern Twopence. Martin 6.1-I.1, W-1362. Rarity-7+. Specimen-55 (PCGS). 172.0 grains. A remarkable second example of this extremely rare variety of the famous 1724 twopence. This piece is lightly worn but still a well detailed and attractive specimen of this impressive issue. The surfaces are a glossy medium brown with reddish-tan at the peripheries. Perhaps cleaned and retoned but a pleasing shade for a Rosa Americana nevertheless. Only a few minor marks and corrosion spots at MER and the cross at the top of the crown. The planchet is nicely free from all but the most trivial granularity. An intriguing example for its missing stops after HIB and REX while it is clearly the same obverse die as the preceding lot. Said to be a late die state in the Ford catalog, but the missing stops as well as the missing detail at the bottom of the reverse ribbon are better explained as a strike anomaly, basically a broad strike, where the detail is splayed outward and some of the finer peripheral detail is totally obscured as a result. The weak dentils and bifurcated bases of the letters are related features of the unusual strike. A desirable and interesting example, comparable in grade to the PCGS SP-53 Craige piece but with overall smoother surfaces. The incredible group of 1724 twopence specimens offered here present an extraordinary opportunity for collectors to obtain these sought after but rarely available Rosa Americana rarities. PCGS# 905743. From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier ex New Netherlands Coin Company; our (Stacks) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part IX, May 2005, lot 189. Plated in Walter Breens Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins p. 24. Obverse plated in the Martin reference "The Rosa Americana Coinage of William Wood," p. 292.
