1786 New Jersey Copper. Maris 14-J, W-4810. Rarity-1. Straight Plow Beam, Stegosaurus Head. AU-55 (PCGS).
There are a lot of nice examples of Maris 14-J around, but only one of them is the plate coin for Maris Obverse 14. Attractive medium golden brown, with subtly blended contrasting tones of tan and earthen mahogany merging into a perfect color scheme, like so many dots on an old tube TV. Splendidly detailed on both sides, mostly glossy and smooth, a very pretty copper. A stripe of surface coloration extends from center past the right side of the reverse shield, some very shallow scale sits harmlessly beneath the shield, and a bit of inactive verdigris is hidden within the central uprights near the base of the shield. The planchet is a bit crudely cut atop the reverse, below the date on the obverse, which join with a few very trivial rim bruises to create the distinctive centering that allows this to be easily matched to the Maris plate. Die State 1, uncracked and without the often-seen obverse swelling. The exceptional sharpness of the horsehead on this piece recommended it to Maris as his plate coin. Undoubtedly he had many pieces from these dies at his disposal, but he chose this one. This piece was sold in the 1886 Maris sale, bound for Baltimore with the rest of Maris' New Jerseys that were acquired by T. Harrison Garrett. This variety was apparently upgraded by the Garretts with the 1923 acquisition of the Ellsworth Collection, leaving this piece to be spun off as a duplicate. It disappeared from view for decades, reappearing in the O'Donnell Collection sale of 2001. In the Maris sale, as lot 368, it was described as "Very Fine. See N.J. Plate, No. 14." In the O'Donnell sale, it preceded Maris lot 369, offered consecutively for the first time in over a century. Any offering of a Maris plate coin makes specialists compete, but this makes for an especially interesting way to represent an otherwise commonplace variety.
PCGS# 767875.
From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier, from H.P. Smith's sale of the Dr. Edward Maris Collection, June 1886, lot 368; our (Stack's) 2001 Americana sale of the William O'Donnell Collection, January 2001, lot 104; our (Stack's) sale of September 2005, lot 280; Lawrence R. Stack Collection, November 2006.