1787 NJ 1/2P Outlined Shield, BN MS(PCGS#503)

The January 2012 Americana Sale

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

7503

Grade

VF20

Price

48,875

Lot Description

1787 New Jersey Copper. Maris 9-G, W-4735. Rarity-7. Date Under Plow, No Coulter. VF-20. 129.4 grains. One of the absolute highlights of the New Jersey coppers from Collection SLT, this Maris 9-G has been eagerly anticipated by NJ copper specialists since the announcement of the sale of this collection. The 9-G has held its rarity since discovery by Maris in the 1870s, with only 7 documented specimens known today. Until the mid-1990s, in fact, there were only 5. That changed in 1993 when Steve Tannenbaum discovered the present specimen at an outdoor flea market, and after constantly upping his offer, was able to purchase the coin for $5000, a price that sounded like a ton of money in 1993 but that will sound dirt cheap on auction night. By comparison, we have an unverified report that a lesser grade specimen than this one traded in recent years for a sum in the very high five figures. The seventh known and lowest grade specimen was an ebay find in 2011.<br /> The Collection SLT specimen is listed as #2 in the Condition Census in the as yet unreleased Siboni/Howes/Ish reference, and is called VF-, though it shares a comparable amount of design detail in the horse head, plow and shield to the CC#1 coin, the Taylor-Anton specimen that was called VF-30 in the 1987 Taylor sale and is called VF by S/H/I. In addition to the similarity in detail to the Taylor-Anton coin, this specimen also exhibits similar natural planchet striations that blend well with the overall surfaces, which show scattered minor circulation marks. Mostly medium olive-brown in tone today, this coin's fields exhibit areas of bright copper, chiefly at upper obverse and in reverse fields, the remnants of a past cleaning from which this coin is still ably recovering. &nbsp;Generally well struck with some softness at the central shield as on most known specimens, this coin's obverse is centered a bit toward 6:00, cutting off the lower half of all the date digits; the reverse, in contrast, is quite well cen