'1771' 1/2P Machin's, Vlack 2-71A, BN MS(PCGS#826934)

'1771' 1/2P Machin's, Vlack 2-71A, BN MS (PCGS#826934)

Spring 2026 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Lot Description: 113.4 grains. Glossy and appealing light brown, offering uncommon aesthetic impact for the issue. Both sides are nicely centered and well struck. Inherent planchet texture lends a granular appearance to the centers, as usual and as struck, and this later die state shows softness in the area of Britannia's head. Some very shallow roughness is seen within ORG of GEORGIVS on the obverse, and a speck of verdigris sits at the bottom end of a stripe of darker toning in the right reverse field. Aside from a single little rim nick below the bust truncation on the obverse, there are no marks that require description. Nice examples of this variety are few and far between, but sharp and problem free examples with nice light color like this one are of inestimable rarity. This is undoubtedly a Condition Census candidate for this elusive die marriage. The HRT book notes "Vlack 2-71A is much more difficult variety to find than the rarity would suggest and it is even more difficult to find on nice brown planchets." The authors suggest that this variety is a production of Atlee's New York City mint, located at James Atlee's father's brewery, struck from dies by New Jersey coiner Walter Mould.