1786 NJ 1/2P M. 21-P, Mane Punch Before Ears, BN MS(PCGS#767882)

November 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

1301

Grade

AU58BN

Price

12,000

Lot Description

129.1 grains. A choice and attractive example of this highly elusive Maris number. Rich mottled medium brown, a bit lighter where mint color last faded around the obverse peripheries, with lovely lustrous gloss most prominent on the obverse. Frosty, appealing, and well preserved, just the kind of New Jersey that copper enthusiasts love. The obverse centering is good, shifted a bit right and showing a hint of the die edge at upper left. The reverse is framed by denticles at its left side. A tiny rim clip is present at 1 o'clock on the obverse, 5 o'clock on the reverse. The central obverse shows a bit of planchet texture that wasn't entirely struck out, a byproduct of the die failure in the right central obverse that manifests here as a short, diagonal die crack right of the snout tip. This is SHI Die State 3 for this obverse, and the break above star 1 on the reverse places that side as Die State 3 as well. A bit of encrustation within the legends doesn't harm the eye appeal a bit and underscores this coin's choice originality. Some of the foldover lamination texture commonly encountered at the periphery of this variety and those adjacent to it is visible around the reverse. The eye appeal is truly exceptional on both sides.<p>For some reason, there are many high grade survivors of Maris 21-P despite it being an extremely scarce die marriage overall. The PCGS MS-62 BN Syd Martin coin, which sold for $27,600 in our sale of August 2022, is ranked just fifth finest in the updated SHI Census, surpassed by two coins we've offered in the last 25 years, namely the Ford coin and the PCGS MS-64 BN Archangel coin that brought $33,600 in October 2018. The primary E Pluribus Unum coin, a gorgeous PCGS AU-58+, brought $15,600 in our sale of November 2019, and even its quality was insufficient to place it within the top seven pieces identified by Siboni, Howes, and Ish. This piece is beautiful, original, and high grade, and it will serve as a superb addition to any advanced New Jersey collection.