1787 NJ 1/2P Pattern Shield, Maris 6-C, BN MS(PCGS#767863)

March 2017 Baltimore U.S. Coins Auction

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

221

Grade

AU55

Price

32,900

Lot Description

Ex Maris-Garrett 1787 Maris 6-C Copper Maris Reverse Plate Coin 1787 New Jersey Copper. Maris 6-C, W-5040. Rarity-5-. Pattern Shield. AU-55 (PCGS). 147.1 grains. A remarkably high grade specimen of Maris 6-C tied for second finest known in the Siboni-Howes-Ish condition census, and described by Dr. Maris himself as "by far the finest I have ever seen." Struck on the usual wide planchet, providing a wide margin beyond the triangular denticles along much of the circumference of the obverse and all of the reverse. Warm dark brown surfaces are quite glossy and attractive on both sides, and a series of scratches from the rim to the central plow have long since blended into the surfaces, rendering them inconspicuous. This may very well be the finest commercially available Maris 6-C, as the only finer specimen in the census has not been publicly seen since the Mills sale of 1904! This particular specimen once graced the illustrious cabinets of Dr. Edward Maris and T. Harrison Garrett, and the reverse was used to show reverse C in the plate accompanying Maris' 1881 original A Historical Sketch of the Coins of New Jersey. Provenance: From the Dr. Gordon Shaw Collection. Earlier ex Dr. Edward Maris Collection, Harlan P. Smith, June 1886, lot 355; T. Harrison Garrett Collection; Bowers & Ruddy's Sale of the Garrett Collection, October 1980, lot 1392; Bert Cohen; Early American Numismatics, July 25, 1984. PCGS# 509; 767863