(1785) Bar Copper. W-8520, Breen-1145. AU-53 (PCGS).85.9 grains. Just a superb example of this always popular issue, with absolutely ideal surfaces and outstanding centering. Glossy deep tan with choice, smooth fields. The obverse is pristine for the grade, with neither significant spots nor marks, just a trace of old harmless India ink in the field below the device. Denticles frame nearly the entire side but for the upper right; given the short diameter of these pieces, such ideal centering is very unusual. The reverse is just as nice, aligned slightly right and showing a bold arc of denticles at left. A few little spots are seen, nothing serious.<p><p>One of the most eagerly sought numismatic items from the colonial and early federal era of United States history, the Bar copper is also one of the most enigmatic. We are not sure by whom or under what circumstances these pieces were produced. We are reasonably sure, however, that this type was struck circa 1785, as evidenced by an entry in the November 12, 1785, issue of the <em>New Jersey Gazette</em> that states:<p><p>"A new and curious kind of coppers have lately made their appearance in New York. The novelty and bright gloss of which keeps them in circulation. These coppers are in fact similar to Continental buttons without eyes; on the one side are thirteen stripes and on the other U.S.A., as was usual on the solders buttons."<p><p>The Bar copper is perhaps the early American coin best equipped to illustrate two great narratives of the Revolutionary-era: the military struggle for independence and the economic struggle against crummy coppers. Both the obverse and reverse designs of the Bar coppers were borrowed directly from buttons worn by Continental Army soldiers. The obverse design was commonplace throughout the war on the coats and vests of soldiers from New England to the Carolinas, making this design instantly familiar to most who encountered it. The lifespan of those buttons was longer than the circulation life of a Bar copper, however. The Bar coppers did meet with initial success in the young United States, where a dearth of circulating specie meant that they were eagerly accepted in commerce. At the time of their introduction, however, these coins were among the most underweight of the post-Revolutionary coppers, sometimes weighing as little as half of a Fugio copper. When the Copper Panic of 1789 hit New York, the Hudson Valley, Philadelphia, New Haven, and Boston, these were among the first coppers to be tossed from circulation, which is why AU Bar coppers are more common than VGs. Those AU coins vary widely in quality though. This is one of the nicest to come on the market in recent years.<p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p>PCGS# 599.From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier, from our (Stacks) sale of April 1978, lot 19; our (Stacks) sale of September 1994, lot 45; McCawley and Grellmans 8th Annual C4 Convention sale, November 2002, lot 517.<p>
