1737 3P Higley, Connecticvt, BN MS(PCGS#201)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

1266

Grade

VF20BN

Price

72,000

Lot Description

119.9 grains. A wonderfully pleasing example of the historic and desirable first iteration of the Higley copper coinage, with the obverse proclaiming the coin THE VALVE OF THREE PENCE and the reverse bearing the name CONNECTICVT. This piece offers exceptional planchet quality and glorious color for the type. The tan-brown surfaces are slightly glossy and refreshingly original. There is no trace of roughness or corrosion, just some thin planchet fissures on the obverse and a few minor marks that are not distracting nor out of line for the grade. Somewhat softly struck at the right side of the obverse and at central reverse, no doubt at least partially due to the relatively thin planchet not providing enough metal to completely fill the dies. There is plenty of bold detail to appreciate, however. The deer is fully outlined and part of its eye visible, the all-important date and legend complete on the reverse while the obverse is just missing a few letters, and the distinctive Higley copper symbols of the pointing hand before the obverse legend and the star before the date are both pronounced. The central reverse weakness obscures much of the 3 Hammers design, but between the crown of the top hammer, the head of the lower left, and the handle of the lower right, a full crowned hammer motif is represented among the three.<p>Dan Freidus reported six examples of the 1.3-A die pair in his 1994 Coinage of the Americas Conference paper and no additional specimens have come to light since. Two of the six reside in institutional collections, namely the Connecticut State Library and the Simsbury Historical Society. This is one of three die varieties that use the CONNECTICVT reverse, the others being Freidus 1.1-A and 1.2-A, of which there are two and five examples respectively. When considered as a type, there are a mere 13 examples extant in total with the coveted CONNECTICVT reverse, and three are in museums. Of the six known examples of the present Freidus 1.3-A variety, the finest appears to be the Picker-Partrick coin graded NGC VF-30 that sold for $141,000 in the Partrick Collection sale of January 2015, alongside the coin offered here. It had remarkably similar color and surfaces to the present coin, but a fuller strike. The Newman coin, graded NGC Fine-15, is perhaps the sharpest known but has corroded surfaces. It realized $102,000 in the Newman sale in November 2017, and $69,000 when it resold in 2019 as part of the Poulos Family Collection. Two of the other specimens are holed and/or plugged.<p>This exceptional piece was acquired by Syd Martin in the Partrick Collection sale of January 2015, where it realized $76,375; it went on to realize $84,000 in our August 2022 offering of Syd's collection. Its prior provenance is to the Roper sale of December 1983, one of the all-time great offerings of Higley coppers. For a possible much older provenance, it's interesting to note that in the early coin drawings of Pierre Eugene Du Simitiere, probably done in the 1770s, he illustrates an example of this variety that seems to mimic the soft right hand strike of this piece, something rather unique to this example, and it's possible this was the very coin in his possession. We may never know that for sure, but what is certain is that this is one the most appealing and desirable examples of the variety available to collectors, and its offering represents a significant opportunity.