(1790) Albany Church Penny. No D. W-8495, Breen-1169. VF-30 (PCGS).110.8 grains. A fascinating example of this rare relic of the small change economy that followed the Copper Panic of 1789. As the panic set in, and merchants refused to take the worn-out or counterfeit low weight coppers that predominated in the pockets of Americans in the New York area and beyond, a numismatic corollary to a great American tradition took hold: people tried to generously give away what no longer had any value. Church collection plates in the Hudson Valley became overrun with these worthless coppers, forcing many churches to issue small denomination scrip notes in preference to the coppers they didnt want. The First Presbyterian Church of Albany handled the issue a different way: they took 1,000 of the coppers that were essentially valueless on the open market, counterstamped them, and then sold them to their parishioners at a rate of 12 to a shilling. The church made money on the trash coppers that had been given them, and parishioners were told in no uncertain terms that their worthless coppers were no longer welcome unless blessed with the churchs own mark. <p><p><p><p>When this copper was marked on behalf of the church, the force of the hammers blow revealed an internal flaw that literally broke the copper apart. Stable now, at the time of the countermarks application a chunk was taken out of the upper right obverse periphery, leaving behind one of the most memorable and distinctive survivors of this rarity. The surfaces are attractive medium brown, a little darker in the depressed fields to add contrast to the words "CHURCH Penny" at center. Some old encrustation is seen, mostly in the struck depression. The bottom of the crenelated border is not entirely struck up, but the rest is bold. No real clear signs of undertype are seen, but some seeming vestiges on the blank reverse are at least suggestive. (Your cataloger thinks he sees a right-facing bust of George III on the blank back when the broken potion is aligned to 4 oclock, but he wouldnt swear to it.)<p><p><p><p>There are probably a dozen or more of each of the varieties of the Albany Church Penny, with the "No D" and "With D" types similarly rare.<p>PCGS# 612.PCGS Population: 4; 3 finer (EF-40 finest).From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier from our (Stacks) Summer 1997 fixed price list; Michael Wierzba, November 2008.<p>
