1776 (ca. 1867) Lincoln Bust / Libertas Americana Muling. By John Adams Bolen. Musante JAB M-7. Copper. Marked "B 5" on Edge. MS-66 BN (PCGS).25.4 mm. 158.9 grains. Vivid violet and blue mottling on the obverse while the reverse is largely deep blue-green with subtle traces of red in some of the deeper recesses. Boldly struck on a thick flan with strong prooflike reflectivity on both sides and virtually no evidence of handling. Outstanding eye appeal and a perfect aesthetic match to the others in the Bolen Reference Collection. Just five specimens are believed to have been struck, all in copper, and Musante found no examples at auction in any composition, though he suggests that Kline restrikes might exist. The 1868 AJN listing reported only a muling of a Lincoln die and the Libertas die, with no mention of the two different Lincoln dies used, or clarification as to which one was referred to. The entry listed only a single impression, in silver, and based on Zabriskies listing of a muling in silver, it was assigned by Musante to the JAB M-3 listing, the other Lincoln muling. This said, the Zabriskie Collection of Lincoln medals sold by Sothebys in 1999 included a JAB M-7 Lincoln / Libertas in silver, so that is probably the correct assignment. The AJN referred to these mulings as having been "made, to special order" so it stands to reason that there could be unrecorded strikings here and there through this series. Still, we are aware of no others from this pairing of dies, and this was Bolens personal example.From the Martin Logies Collection. Earlier ex personal reference collection of John Adams Bolen; our sale of the E Pluribus Unum Collection, Part III, November 2021 Baltimore Auction, lot 10256.
