1788 Machin's Mills Halfpenny / Connecticut Copper. Vlack 13-88CT, Miller 101-D, W-8080. Rarity-5. AU-58 (PCGS).
112.8 grains. A superb example of this scarce and intriguing variety that combines a George III counterfeit halfpenny obverse die, found on 1778 dated Machin's Mills varieties, with a 1788 Connecticut INDE ET LIB reverse otherwise found on Miller 2-D and 16.1-D. This is a significant piece and among the very finest seen of the variety. Glossy and somewhat lustrous chestnut-brown surfaces are very well preserved showing little if any wear and no abrasions or other post-strike impairments. Struck on a somewhat flawed planchet as is virtually always the case with this issue, the obverse with scattered voids that fortunately do not affect the sharp design elements to any significant degree. The reverse is smoother, the strike on that side just showing a few areas of weakness at 10 and 3 o'clock affecting a few letters. Overall well centered and exceptionally sharp. We have sold the other great examples known of this variety, the similarly graded PCGS AU-58 Ted Craige example that realized $16,450 in November 2012, and the PCGS AU-55 E Pluribus Unum Collection coin that brought $7,200 in November 2020. The Syd Martin example is equally extraordinary and worthy of the finest collection of Machin's Mills halfpennies or Connecticut coppers.
PCGS# 687740.
From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier ex Ed Sarrafian, January 2008. Plated in The History and Coinage of Machin's Mills by Howes, Rosen, and Trudgeon, 2020, p. 169. Obverse plated in The Identification and Classification of Connecticut Coppers 1785-1788 by Randy Clark, p. 642.

Estimate: $11000