1786 VT 1/2P Bust Left, BN MS(PCGS#551)

The November 2012 Baltimore Auction

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

6633

Grade

VF30BN

Price

1,410

Lot Description

1786 Vermont Copper. RR-11, Bressett 9-H, W-2050. Rarity-4. Bust Left. VF-30. 108.4 grains. Uniformly microporous steel-brown surfaces. Obverse rim tight to tops of VERMO, natural planchet fissure on the effigy's nose and cheek, no other marks of any size are to be found by the unassisted eye, usual die crack from U to hair faint, reverse rim tight to tops of IN and through DE and the top of Liberty's head, ET slightly soft, large saw-tooth dentils bold from 3 to 7 o'clock, natural planchet fissures across Liberty's thighs, faint scratches at date noted under low magnification, no other marks are plain to the unassisted eye, 1 in date a J, die crack from IN to Liberty's knee faint, shield details bold for the variety. Somewhat typical overall appearance for Ryder-11. The Carlotto reference calls for weakness at AUCTORI on the obverse and INDE on the reverse, but on the present specimen those legends are bold, the only softness as noted at ET. The Phelps-Ryder-Boyd-Frontenac pedigree chain for this specimen is impressive, linking as it does a roster that goes back to 1908 and a Lyman Low sale. The present piece falls at the low end of the given weight metrology. A pleasing coin overall, Condition Census, and a reminder that in the Vermont copper series, perhaps more so than in any other state coinage series, beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. PCGS# 551. Provenance: From the Dan Freidus Collection. Earlier from Lyman H. Low's sale of the Henry Phelps Collection, March 1908, lot 21; to Hillyer C. Ryder; to F.C.C. Boyd; to John J. Ford, Jr.; and from our (Bowers and Merena's) Frontenac Sale, November 1991, lot 87. Frontenac Sale lot tag and paper envelope with attribution and pedigree notes included.