1783 MD 3P Chalmers MS(PCGS#592)

November 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auktionator

Stack's Bowers

Losnummer

1149

Erhaltungsgrad

VF30

Preis

7.200

Losbeschreibung

11.8 grains. Rich steely-charcoal patina evenly blankets both sides of this handsome piece. The denticulation is beyond the flan at lower obverse, upper right reverse, but all peripheral letters are free of the border, overall design bold and fully appreciable. No troublesome marks or other blemishes are seen, even under magnification, and although moderately circulated this piece was otherwise gently handled both in commerce and by earlier generations of collectors. It is a wholesome example of a challenging type.<p>The private coinage of Annapolis, Maryland silversmith John Chalmers was made on his account to combat the abuses then being practiced with the cutting of Spanish silver 8 reales into their fractional parts. Chalmers offered to exchange those pieces for his own silver coinage, charging a commission to the exchanger. Chalmers produced silver pieces in threepence, sixpence and shilling denominations, the dies for which seem to have been engraved by Thomas Sparrow, who also engraved plates for Maryland paper currency.<p>The Chalmers coins were generally rather amateurishly made, and on the diminutive threepence the margin for error was particularly slim. Given all that could go wrong, from a clipped planchet to axial misalignment to an off-center strike, some weight must be put on manufacturing quality in addition to technical grade. That being said, the list of positive qualities is long for the coin offered here. It is a strong representative of the type and it is highly recommended for inclusion in an advanced type set.