1776 (ca. 1867) Washington / Libertas Americana Muling. By John Adams Bolen. Musante JAB M-4, Musante GW-798, Baker-56. Silver. MS-64 (PCGS).25 mm. Lovely rose-tinged surfaces with enhancing blushes of steel-blue iridescence lining the upper obverse and reverse borders. Sharply to fully defined throughout, and nearly in the full Gem category. This piece is on a thicker planchet than others we have handled, suggestive of a Bolen original, though it is the same thickness as at least one brass piece of which we are aware; brass pieces are believed to have only been struck by Kline. Musante called these pieces Kline restrikes in his 2002 book on Bolen, but Bolen originals in his 2016 Washingtoniana reference, further complicating the matter. Rare in either case and very desirable for the iconic design, particularly so in silver.From the Martin Logies Collection.
