1766 Pitt Halfpenny

10. 1766 Pitt Halfpenny. Betts 519, W-8350. Very Fine, well struck save for the extremeright edge of the reverse, an area that is often seen weak on this type; this causes a loss of thelegend there, the remainder of the letters on either side mostly strong. The bust of Pitt and theship are both sharp and show solid VF design detail. Nice medium brown, the surfaces hard andpleasing to the eye. A fascinating issue, one that is clearly important to the American colonialcollector as the design not only names America on the reverse, but refers to the infamous StampAct which both propelled Pitt into prominence and, a decade later, the American colonies intorevolution. Collectors of this historic issue are often faced with just two choices: paying a lot ofmoney for an AU or Uncirculated specimen or finding a more affordable circulated one that isrough or damaged - this is the rare exception that is circulated, not damaged, quite pleasing incolor and overall eye appeal, yet still quite affordable.......... $900

1787 Connecticut Copper

25. 1787 Connecticut Copper. Miller 18-g.1. Rarity-6. Choice About Uncirculated. This isthe STEVE TANNENBAUM specimen of the variety and appeared as Lot 7173 in the Stack'sBowers sale of his collection in January, 2012, where it was described as follows:

1787 Connecticut Copper. Miller 18-g.1, W-3045. Rarity-6. Draped Bust Facing Left. EF-45. 130.1 grains. Deep golden brown with traces of red in the protected areas though no doubt from a long-ago cleaning. Sharpness easily equal to the task of the assigned grade and readilycomparable to Perkins:290 and Ford:313. Usual swelling in left obverse field, some central ticksfrom the striking process at the center and a light natural fissure along the hair ribbon, reversewith numerous tiny central ticks as well. Nicely centered and highly attractive, and perhaps at thelow end of the Condition Census for the variety.

We disagree slightly with the cataloguer of that sale in terms of grade - to our eyes the light redin the protected areas is completely natural, and the coin is a full AU in grade; bidders in theaudience certainly agreed, as the piece realized $1,150 over a half dozen years ago, which wasfair AU money at the time. Steve considered it to be the second finest known of the variety, and indeed we have not seen anything better than this at auction; the closest was the Partrick-Hessberg coin, an AU with a large planchet flaw. Ford's was a Choice VF but still called the second finest seen by its cataloguer - though this example is much nicer in every respect. This isone of a handful of Connecticut Copper varieties that proved to be much rarer than previouslythought, and its rarity rating has gone up over the years while most others have drifted at leastslightly downwards. This example has the typical late obverse die state, the swelling no doubtaccounting for the rarity of the variety today. This obverse was paired only with this reverse, soit seems both dies must have failed around the same time. A gorgeous example of a legitimatelyrare variety, with an exceptional provenance. This will simply not be improved upon.......$2,250

Accompanied by Steve's original handwritten envelope and the lot ticket from the auctionof his collection.

1787 Connecticut Copper

28. 1787 Connecticut Copper. Miller 33.28-Z.16, W-3770, the obverse. HighRarity-4. Choice Extremely Fine, a boldly struck example of this very scarce and popularvariety. The legends are full, the individual letters all strong, as are the digits in the date whichis, unusually, completely on the planchet. The obverse bust shows all the fine detail in thedrapery, significant hair design and a prominent eye, while the reverse figure shows most of thefolds in her dress and a strong globe, shield and branch - even the centers of the cinquefoils oneither side show the intricate design detail at their centers which quickly gets worn away. Darkolive brown, the surfaces with the faintest roughness, but with significant eye appeal - especiallysince there are no major marks or damage from circulation. Usual late obverse state with ahorizontal diebreak nearly bisecting the die and extending out under the bust's nose, giving thenickname for this variety.

This is the HILLYER RYDER coin, and is accompanied by hisoriginal handwritten ticket - the 33.24 designation was Dr. Hall's (who published a limitededition of a book on the 1787 Connecticut coppers). It was purchased by Ryder in 1910, nearly adecade before Henry Miller's work would be published, which renumbered some of the 33-obverse die varieties and added in varieties not known to Dr. Hall. Most of the Ryder coinsended up in the collection of John Ford, who sold some downgrades and duplicates in a handfulof auctions by Stack's and Bowers and Merena, mostly in the 1990s. Ford never looked at hisConnecs much, but he was a serious enough numismatist to retain all the paper ephemera thatcame with his coins - unfortunately some of this material has since been lost as coins wereslabbed or resold. Certainly one of the sharpest examples of the variety known, likely in the tailend of the Condition Census as well.

Robert Martin had a pair of marginally sharper AUs thatbrought $4,200 and $6,300 in a very weak market, and Partrick's somewhat flawed AU brought$5,280 - compare the detail and this one is right up there, but a heck of a lot lower in price. Agreat find for the collector, with a wonderful provenance too..........$1.050

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
ROSA AMERICANA FIXED PRICE LIST #23 SELECTIONS(https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n27a23.html)