(1796) AE Medal Castorland Restrike, Original Dies, BN MS(PCGS#657)

(1796) AE Medal Castorland Restrike, Original Dies, BN MS (PCGS#657)

November 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Lot Description: 180.2 grains. Medallic alignment. An important piece, struck from the original dies in medal turn orientation with a plain edge. The medium brown surfaces are lustrous and a bit reflective, mostly even in shade but with some darker mottling on the reverse. Both peripheries show significant doubling, indicative of multiple strikes on a screw press, with a greater spread between strikes on the reverse than obverse. Aside from a couple of trivial spots, the surfaces and visual appeal are both choice, suggestive of a higher grade.<p>The Castorland issues are not well understood, as the original dies were used to make silver strikes with reeded edge, as well as copper strikes in multiple die rotations, different sorts of reeding, or even plain edges as here. The reverse die started to break at some point, likely in the 1830s, and was replaced in the 1840s. While we've sold several copper strikes from the original dies, the only example we've sold with medal turn and a plain edge was on a much brassier planchet: Syd Martin's piece sold as Lot 1135 in our sale of March 2023. The die state and striking texture was essentially identical, even if the composition of the planchet was a bit different. That piece, graded MS-64 (PCGS), brought $3,840. Dating of pieces like this are highly speculative, but we would guess it was struck within a few years of 1796.