1788 Connecticut Copper. Miller 4.2-R, W-4435. Rarity-6. Mailed Bust Right--Overstruck on Nova Constellatio Copper--EF-40 (PCGS).121.4 grains. Glossy dark brown with reddish highlights, the surfaces peppered by small marks that are not individually visible without magnification. The obverse is seemingly several grades sharper than the reverse, which is bulging from a failing die, and thus more susceptible to wear than the obverse. Otherwise well struck, the obverse a trifle off-center, bringing AUCTORI tight to the rim, the reverse closely double struck, further complicating the reverse which is already a jumble of Connecticut and Nova Constellatio designs! A choice example, less sharp but with finer surfaces than the rough Twin Leaf EF or the conservatively graded SLT Fine-15 with edge cuts. On par or very close to the piece in our September 2011 Americana Sale, ex New England Rare Coin Auctions July 1976 sale, that realized $6,037.50.PCGS# 687253.From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier ex "Johnson," 1959; Heritages sale of the W. Philip Keller Collection, October 2010, lot 3249; our sale of the Robert M. Martin Collection, November 2019 Baltimore Auction, lot 5300. Plated in Randy Clarks "The Identification and Classification of Connecticut Coppers 1785-1788," pp. 619, 668.
