Machin's Mills Halfpenny
1774 Machin's Mills Halfpenny. Vlack 3-74A, W-7750. Rarity-6. GEORGIVS III, Group I. AU-53 (PCGS).
119.4 grains. This is among the finest survivors of this rare die combination. Its brown, glossy patina verges on ebony, its surfaces are hard if a bit microscopically granular, and its devices are perhaps a bit more strongly detailed than the AU-53 grade intimates. The Ringo specimen sold in 2000 was then called EF-40, and rivals this piece on eye appeal if not on sharpness. The PCGS Population Report lists an AU-58 for the 1774 Machin's Mills halfpenny, with no differentiation as to subtype or variety, and is the only finer third-party graded example of the date, assuming it's not an incorrectly certified non-Machin's Mills counterfeit halfpenny. Here is undoubtedly a condition census piece; where it stands in that listing, given as VF-30 to MS-60 in the Whitman Encyclopedia, will become clear only when other advanced collections fall under the auctioneer's hammer or are otherwise published.
PCGS# 932 and #826947.
PCGS Population: 1; 1 finer for the date/type.
From the E Pluribus Unum Collection.
Estimate: $5000