1790 AR 3P Standish Barry, Baltimore MS(PCGS#609)

November 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

4397

Grade

AU53

Price

33,600

Lot Description

Medallic alignment. A truly outstanding example of this legendary rarity, one of the most popular pieces in the entire canon of early American coins for its distinctive design and history. Lovely olive-gray surfaces are attractively toned and free from significant defects. Traces of original luster persist to shine forth as the coin dips into a light, and they are strongest in the protected areas around some of the design elements. The centering of this piece is superb, and the only weak spot of this often incompletely rendered design is at the left central reverse, where the bottom of the letter H in THREE and top of the letter E in CENTS are typically incomplete. The central devices are other immaculately well struck, the peripheries are fully realized, and the portrait (of Baltimore mayor James Calhoun) is simply superb. Otherwise smooth, and certainly presenting as such during in hand viewing, provenance concerns alone compel us to mention a pair of dull marks in the left obverse field and a few similarly trivial nicks on the reverse, including two above the letters EE in THREE that are separated by a faint graze. The eye appeal is excellent and virtually unimprovable for the type.<p>In his groundbreaking March 2010 article in <em>The Colonial Newsletter</em>, Max Spiegel listed 18 specimens of Standish Barry's threepence, a number to which maybe another half dozen could be safely added, though probably an equal number are impounded. There are only a few truly nice ones known, including the Brand-Ford gem and a couple other nice coins in the EF/AU range, including that offered here, not included in the Spiegel census. Unsurprisingly, the two best collections formed in Baltimore (Garrett and Eliasberg) both included high grade examples, however, the population is mostly weighted towards lower grade or damaged pieces. The impounded specimens include: American Numismatic Society, Maryland Historical Society, and Smithsonian Institution. The MdHS duplicate was deaccessioned and sold in our (Stack's) 74th Anniversary Sale of November 2009, bringing $43,125 in a PCGS VF-30 holder. Our finest offering in recent years was for the Archangel coin, PCGS MS-62, that brought $52,800 in our October 2018 Baltimore Auction; our most recent was for Syd Martin's PCGS AU-55 that traded hands for $40,800 in March 2023.<p>This silver token threepence is an anomaly in the early American coin series. It's struck in silver, which makes it an oddity after the 17th century. It displays a portrait of someone other than George Washington or an allegorical figure (only the famous George Clinton copper is comparable, and Clinton remains far better known than Calhoun). It bears the most precise date in the entire American series (July 4, 1790), and perhaps most important, was struck after the U.S. Constitution gave exclusive rights to coinage to the Federal government.<p>Spiegel posited that the July 4, 1790 date was intended to align with Thomas Jefferson's "Plan for Establishing Uniformity in the Coinage, Weights, and Measures of the United States," which shared that exact same printed publication date. Based on the weights Jefferson suggested for a dollar (376 grains), three pence of Maryland's money of account would weigh pretty much dead on what a Standish Barry threepence weighs. As supporting evidence, the Chalmers shillings were struck to a weight standard that made them honest-to-goodness Maryland shillings, based on Maryland's statutory coin valuations and the observed fineness of Chalmers' silver.<p>Whether these were intended as silver tokens or trials struck within the newly proposed Federal framework, they remain rare and rarely encountered today. Many are damaged, most are worn, and the vast majority are incompletely struck. This is one of the very finest known by each of these potential areas of judgement, and its appearance at auction deserves to be greeted with excitement.