1788 Connecticut Copper. Miller 17-Q, W-4640. Rarity-5+. Draped Bust Left, CONNLC. MS-63 BN (PCGS).
98.2 grains. An incredible example of the CONNLC obverse type, an overall rare and condition sensitive major variety. Frosty light brown and steel with accents of pink and reddish-tan characteristic of a coin only lightly faded from mint red. Full, vibrant cartwheel luster of the sort seldom seen on Connecticut coppers of any variety swirls across each side, illuminating the fresh, mint surface this coin possesses. Relatively bold and well centered for the variety, with weakness only at the right side borders where most of CONNLC is visible while LIB on the reverse is indistinct. Excellent definition on the legends elsewhere, almost fully detailed motifs, and a full, sharp date -- something rarely seen on the variety. This is far and away the finest seen example of the variety, and given the rarity of Connecticut coppers in Choice Mint State and higher condition it's doubtful it will ever be exceeded. The second finest certified, and probably the second best in general, is the PCGS AU-58 from our (Bowers and Merena's) 1994 Lexington Collection sale that recently sold for $7,200 in our March 2021 auction. None of the major Connecticut copper collections have yielded anything close to this, Newman's EF-45 and poorly struck AU-50s in Partrick and the Long Island Collection being some of the better examples out there yet a far cry from the sharp, lustrous beauty offered here. Single finest graded of the CONNLC variety at PCGS and the single finest of any of the 1788 Draped Bust Left varieties in general. A fantastic piece with exceptional provenance, a highlight of the Connecticut coppers in this sale.
PCGS# 687244.
From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier from Thomas L. Elder's sale of the Henry C. Miller Collection, May 1920, lot 2073; Hillyer Ryder; F.C.C. Boyd; our (Stack's) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part IX, May 2005, lot 505; Christopher B. Young, January 2007. Reverse plated in Henry C. Miller's 1920 reference "The State Coinage of Connecticut" Plate V; also in Randy Clark's 2021 reference "The Identification and Classification of Connecticut Coppers 1785-1788," pp. 640, 667.

Estimate: $30000