1786 NJ 1/2P Wide Shield, Maris 19-M, BN MS(PCGS#767879)

November 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

1296

Grade

XF40BN

Price

12,000

Lot Description

157.3 grains. A very attractive and well preserved New Jersey copper and a superb example of this "Drunken Die Cutter" variety. The surfaces are hard and smooth, with good gloss and even medium brown color on both sides. The obverse is aligned to 4 o'clock, with the die edge prominently visible from below 9 o'clock to past 12 o'clock. The reverse is ideally centered and displays complete denticles around the entire circumference. A little planchet fissure is noted at the end of the plow, and a few trivial marks are seen, but this piece is very choice overall, with no substantial defects and premium aesthetic appeal. The die state is crisp and early, SHI Die State 1. It would be hard to imagine a nicer example at this grade.<p>Ranked as fifth best in the 2013 SHI Census, this piece is listed as third finest known in the 2024 update. The only two ranked higher are the EF+ Maris-Garrett coin and the EF+ Miller-Boyd-Ford coin. We sold the Maris-Garrett coin in the March 2017 Shaw sale; graded PCGS EF-45, it brought $35,250. The E Pluribus Unum coin, ranked sixth at EF- and graded EF-40 by PCGS, brought $7,200 in our November 2019 and resold for $6,000 at Heritage in April 2021. The only other Condition Census example of this die marriage sold in the last 20 years is the Taylor-Schettino coin, listed as eighth best in the SHI Census, which sold for $4,025 in our Americana sale of January 2010. Before the 2003 Ford sale, the 2010 Schettino sale, the 2017 Shaw sale, and the 2019 E Pluribus Unum sale (and that coin's subsequent reappearance at Heritage), there had not been a CC example of this variety sold at auction since we sold the Sherr New Jerseys in 1984.