'1778' 1/2P Machin's, Vlack 11-78A, BN MS(PCGS#826952)

'1778' 1/2P Machin's, Vlack 11-78A, BN MS (PCGS#826952)

Spring 2026 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Lot Description: 99.1 grains. An exceptional survivor of this issue, one of only a handful of Mint State pieces known. Frosty surfaces show attractive vertical woodgraining in shades of golden tan and medium brown. The strike is sharp and well centered on both sides. A lamination at E of REX is noted, connected to some planchet striations that extend north and south from it, and some planchet texture remains at the centers of both sides. A glass finds some scattered trivial granularity, but no significant marks. The visual appeal is excellent, and the condition clearly places this as firmly within the Condition Census.<p>This piece is plated in both editions of Howes, Rosen, and Trudgen's <em>The History and Coinage of Machin's Mills</em>, captioned in both as "high grade Vlack 11-78A." It is tied with two others on the PCGS Population Report at this grade, exceeded by only Syd Martin's beautiful and wacky example struck over a reverse brockage. Aside from that example, which realized $13,200 in March 2023, we have never sold a certified example of this variety finer than AU-58. Newman's coin, from the Stepney Hoard, was an NGC MS-62 BN that had a similar look to this one. It brought $9,000 in 2017. We find no other public auctions of a Mint State example in recent memory.