1785 Nova Constellatio Copper. Circulating Counterfeit. Crosby-unlisted, W-unlisted, Breen-1115. Rarity-8+. EF-40 (PCGS).99.8 grains. Circulating counterfeit colonials have always been richly appreciated by specialists in the series, particularly when they are particularly crude or particularly rare. This piece has both advantages. This was first brought to the attention of most collectors when it was published and illustrated in Breens <em>Encyclopedia</em> in 1988. Eric Newman, who acquired this in the 1950s from Washington DC coin and paper dealer Ben Douglas, published it again in a paper on the Nova Constellatios at the ANS COAC conference in 1995 ("New Thoughts on the Nova Constellatio Private Copper Coinage"). In the proceedings, he noted this piece is "much cruder than the 1786 pieces" and that it "maximizes errors by omitting the E in LIBRTAS, by having only 12 sets of rays and 12 stars, by the leaf stem joinders pointing counterclockwise instead of clockwise, and by having two stops after the word CONSTELLATIO and before the word NOVA." He suggested "its style indicates American manufacture," and while we broadly disagree that crudity necessarily implies geography of origin, we agree this is American made.<p><p><p><p>The surfaces are glossy medium brown with some olive highlights. The surfaces are mostly smooth but for the telltale pits of a planchet made by casting rather than rolling stock. The centering is good and no damage is seen. Surprisingly - or, perhaps, unsurprisingly - the technical grade is quite high. Rather than this coin being purposefully preserved, its more likely that its light weight forced its removal from circulation during the Copper Panic of 1789, thus giving it a short useful lifespan. Theres no reason to think this piece was made in 1785, but it was surely made before 1789.<p><p><p><p>We have never heard so much as a whisper of another in existence. Collectors and dealers alike have been looking for one for decades, but this appears to remain unique.<p>PCGS# 913393.From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier ex Ben Douglas; Eric P. Newman Collection; Eric Newman Numismatic Educational Foundation; Heritages sale of the Newman Collection, November 2014, lot 3016.<p>
