1733 Rosa Americana Pattern Twopence. Martin 1-A, W-1370. Rarity-7+. Proof-62 BN (PCGS). 265.7 grains. The preeminent highlight of this or any collection of Rosa Americana coinage. The 1733 twopence is undoubtedly the most coveted, most unique in appearance, most beautiful, and most storied coin in the series, and ranks as one of the most prestigious of all early American issues. Just five examples are known and two of them are in museums. An additional example, a well worn and holed uniface reverse piece fashioned into a love token also exists but is not traditionally included in census listings. The Ford sale produced an incredible two of the three privately held pieces, as well as the aforementioned love token. Those include the finest known Gem and the present coin which held the secondary role there, but would be a signal highlight in virtually any other sale as it is here. This piece is a lovely, uncirculated Proof with no hint of wear and mirror-like reflectivity in portions of the fields. Deep chocolate-brown in color with accents of chestnut and mahogany creating an impressively handsome overall display. Traces of mint red are seen below the bust and over some of the letters of the obverse legends. There are traces of light surface detritus in the fields surrounding the detail which the Ford cataloger suggests are traces of decayed lacquer. Careful inspection reveals extremely faint hairlines over much of the surface, and some slightly heavier scratches near Georges eye and nose, perhaps remnants of a long-ago careful removal of a layer of lacquer. These lines are very light, visible only with a glass, and rightfully do not preclude a numerical grade assigned by a grading service. The overall appearance is lovely, and the strike magnificent as always, with a touch of weakness in the dentils above the O in GEORGIUS perhaps representing a minute planchet clip.<p>This issue has been a classic early American rarity since the earliest days of the numismatic hobby. It was first described and illustrated by numismatic dealer and author Thomas Snelling in the 1760s. The first auction appearance of a 1733 Rosa Americana twopence can be traced back to the May 1817 sale of the Thomas Brand Hollis Collection. There, lot 515 was described as "George II. his Head and Titles, reverse, a Leafed Rose, crowned, inscribed, Rosa Americana, 1733, "Utile Dulci," see Snellings <em style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;widows:2;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;word-spacing:0px;">View of Coins struck in our Colonies abroad, &c.</em> Plate 4, No. 28; another of these pieces is in the Collection of Marmaduke Trattle, Esq. which belonged to Mr. Edward Bootle, very fine." Which of the handful of specimens known to modern numismatists belonged to Mr. Trattle and which to Mr. Bootle are unknown, and the Trattle and Bootle cabinets are lamentably little remembered today. The great early American numismatist Charles Bushnell was frustrated in his attempt to acquire a specimen of this rarity. His newly purchased example sank aboard the wreck of the <em style="box-sizing:border-box;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;widows:2;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;word-spacing:0px;">S.S. Arctic</em> on September 27, 1854, a newsworthy disaster off the coast of Newfoundland that also claimed the life of famed numismatist Jacob Giles Morris. No specimen would appear on the market for years, and it appears Bushnell never owned one. When the Parmelee coin was sold in 1890, the cataloger noted "Mr. Parmelee has always considered this piece to be the most valuable and interesting coin in his cabinet."<p>There have been precious few auction appearances of the 1733 Rosa Americana twopence in history, and no doubt many great collectors who would have loved to acquire an example simply never had the chance. We had the privilege of offering the Crosby Plate coin, ex Clay-Crosby-Parmelee, the only privately held example not in Ford, in our October 2018 sale of the Archangel Collection. It was graded two points higher at PCGS Proof-64 BN and realized $132,000. This one might be not quite as choice, but is certainly lovely and carries with it the Syd Martin pedigree whose name will forever be revered in Rosa Americana provenance. A truly exciting offering, an opportunity to own one of the most treasured rarities in American colonial coins.<p> PCGS# 905742. From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier said to be ex Philip Nelson, Hillyer Ryder, and F.C.C. Boyd Collections; our (Stacks) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part IX, May 2005, lot 193. Plated in Walter Breens Compete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins p. 25. Obverse plated in the Martin reference "The Rosa Americana Coinage of William Wood," p. 330.
