1787 NJ 1/2P Pattern Shield, Maris 6-C, BN MS(PCGS#767863)

November 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

1273

Grade

AU58BN

Price

48,000

Lot Description

130.9 grains. A spectacular example of this important variety. The Maris 6-C was ordered first among the Horseheads by Maris for its use of the "Pattern Shield" reverse, this important die's only appearance married to a1787 horse-and-plow obverse. Maris Reverse C was earlier used on the very rare 1786 New Jersey Immunis Columbia copper (Maris 3-C), the extremely rare 1786 Washington Head copper (Maris 4-C), and the extraordinarily rare Maris 5-C muling, of which only two are known. This example has long been accorded Condition Census status, ranked third finest known in the Siboni-Howes-Ish census but arguably a candidate for a higher ranking. Everyone acclaims the Mills-Archangel coin as finest known. After a century in hiding, it was graded MS-63 BN (PCGS) and brought $60,000 in our Archangel sale of October 2018. The SHI census (in both 2013 and the 2024 update) ranks the Maris-Garrett-Shaw coin as second best. That coin, the Maris Plate piece, brought $32,900 in our sale of the Dr. Gordon Shaw Collection (March 2017) and is graded AU-55 (PCGS). This example may lack the charisma of a provenance to Dr. Maris himself, but it is both more choice and graded higher than the Shaw coin, though that piece admittedly has a better struck shield. It is at worst a coin flip, and looking at both coins objectively we find it challenging to rank this coin behind that one.<p>The August specimen is perfectly choice, with superb and rich chestnut brown surfaces intermingled with abundant ruddy tan around the design elements on both sides, where mint color was last to fade. Both obverse and reverse are frosty and glossy, with no corrosion or significant distractions. The obverse is aligned right, as so often seen, with the die edge visible at left. The reverse shows ideal centering on the broad planchet, with just a hint of innate planchet texture visible at the central shield where it was not fully obliterated by the strike. The details present in the horsehead, the plowhandles, and other design elements are about as crisp as could be at this grade. We find no defects worth mentioning, just a trivial discoloration in the lower left obverse field behind the plow that takes a good glass and a better light to really see. The die state is early, DS1.<p>As the Siboni, Howes, Ish text notes "Maris 6-C stands alone in the New Jersey series for a number of reasons that make it an attractive variety, desired by every variety collector and worthy of inclusion in the Basic Type Set." This is the only variety to employ Reverse C that isn't at least very rare and also the only one married to a standard New Jersey obverse; the other Horsehead varieties with Reverse C are Maris 7-C, Maris 8 1/2-C and Maris 10 1/2-C, all extraordinarily rare No Coulter varieties (and, in the case of the 7-C marriage, a Date Under Plowbeam variety as well). The Maris 6-C is an issue that transcends the squirrels-preparing-for-winter gathering of as many Maris varieties as possible, instead, its importance merits it a spot in early American cabinets of every description. That so few are this nice makes this example more important. It's one of three verified AUs on the SHI Census (an unseen fourth is in the Anton holdings), but the rest of the Condition Census is populated by a single EF and a few nice VFs. This is the second finest example seen by PCGS.<p>