1788 Connecticut Copper. Miller 1-I, RR-39, W-4400. Rarity-5. Mailed Bust Right, Small Head, Vermont Reverse. EF Details--Environmental Damage (PCGS)….108.0 grains. A rather impressive coin in the context of the always crude and often problematic survivors of this rare and fascinating mule variety combining the 1787 Small Head Connecticut obverse with a 1788 Vermont reverse. The Vermont reverse die used here, Bressett reverse U, is found on several Vermont varieties, RR-25, 28, 29, 31, and 39 which this coin represents in the Vermont series. Black with tan high points, the obverse has some pitting and associated brick-red oxidation and scale. The reverse is smoother and there are no notable marks. Curved planchet clip outside NE, as-made. Despite its surface roughness and rather dark color, this example has many redeeming qualities including its sharp, only lightly worn detail, and much broader than average planchet which accommodates almost all of the legends and a good portion of the date as well. The obverse is particularly well centered, and for Connecticut collectors this makes for an excellent representative of the late die state of this distinctive obverse head type showing heavy cracks and swelling behind the portrait. Overall a very respectable and well pedigreed example of a variety with crossover appeal to Connecticut, Vermont, and Machins Mills collectors alike.PCGS# 687246.From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier ex Henry Chapman, March 17, 1916; our (Stacks) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part IX, May 2005, lot 471.
