1869 “Copper Plate” by J.A. Bolen. Musante JAB-37a. Copper. Marked “J.A. BOLEN / 1869 / ONLY TWO / STRUCK” on the border of one side. MS-64 BN (PCGS).

67.8 x. 67.8 mm. An important and unusual entry into this incredible offering of this talented die sinker's works. The "copper plate," has for even the most advanced Bolen collectors, been out of reach for more than a century. It is notable that just two were struck, one of which went to Bolen's apparently frequent buyer and fellow Springfield Antiquarian, James Parker. Interestingly, according to Musante, that plate was not included in the 1874 Cogan sale of Parker's collection. It seems to have traded privately, perhaps being seen even in the 1870s as an important delicacy. It was sold in Frossard's 1884 sale of the Isaac F. Wood Collection and has ended up in the collections at the Massachusetts Historical Society. That sale, nearly 140 years ago, was the only chance anyone ever had to buy one of these at auction until now. The number of modern collectors who have even seen one in the copper, can undoubtedly be counted on one hand. This example was retained by Bolen as his reference specimen. It was held by his family for decades after his passing within his custom boards and has never been separated from its original context until now, being offered as an individual lot. The surfaces are lovely light olive brown, glossy and beautifully preserved. There are a couple of long scratches on the plate, one of which passes through an impression from the dies but is revealed to have been there prior to striking as it is struck out by the blow of the die. There is very little evidence of handling, and the eye appeal is superb. Though Musante commented that the dies seem to have been partially defaced prior to production of the plates, we see no such evidence on this piece. We do see notable die deterioration, however, as two impressions seem to be terminal states. The single impression from the Eagle on Globe die is in the terminal state. The large break at 2:00 presents on most late state impressions from the die as a cud attaching the letters CUS to the rim. Here, we see the full scale of the failure, and how it extends fully over the A, and to the rim over the first 7 in the date. Arcing cracks also pass through NEO, and from the rim though EBO, with an offshoot connecting E to the rim directly above it. Another crack connects EX. We have not noted these additional terminal state breaks on struck Excelsior copies. There are two impressions from the LIBER NATUS LIBERTATUM obverse. One of these appears to be an early state impression, while the second is terminal. The latter exhibits a retained cud over ATEM. It is unclear what was intended by Bolen in making this piece, as any organization of the impressions results in an incomplete representation of the potential types and mulings. Most likely, paired obverses and reverses are to be taken as struck in opposition to each other (with the side with Bolen's punches being the reverse), the types present as JAB-37, JAB M-11, JAB-37, and JAB-36, starting at the upper left and moving clockwise. These three types correspond to the three variants presented to the ANS by January 1870, as reported, with descriptions, in the February 1870 AJN. This is probably the most distinctive and certainly among the rarest of all Bolen works. Board Position: E

From the E Pluribus Unum Collection. Earlier from the personal reference collection of John Adams Bolen.