1773 Virginia "Penny." Newman 1-A, W-1390. Rarity-6. Proof-64 BN (PCGS).
A lovely and impressive example of this classic colonial rarity. Both sides possess a rich and evenly distributed chestnut-brown patina, with flashy silvery-blue iridescence as well as a few hints of mint red. Crisply impressed from the dies and well centered on the planchet; one will be challenged to locate a singularly bothersome area of striking incompleteness, with the legends and devices standing in pinpoint definition. A pair of ticks just beneath G in GEORGIVS are noted, both sides display as-made remnants of die rust, and one will detect a minuscule spot of verdigris just behind the obverse portrait. All told, simply a beautiful and high-end representative of this celebrated type. Struck on highly prepared planchets from a unique set of dies, the Virginia "penny" coins were never intended for commerce. While a few are known with evidence of circulation, most are fairly nice, well-preserved in the upper class 18th century English collections for which they were intended. As the most impressive form of the only truly "colonial" coin in the United States, the Virginia penny is a classic rarity, avidly sought in every state of preservation. Fewer than 30 examples are thought to exist.
PCGS# 246.
From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier from McCawley & Grellman's sale of the Scott Barnes Collection, Second Annual C4 Conventional Sale, October 1996, lot 180; our (Bowers and Merena's) June 2007 Baltimore Auction, lot 39; John Agre and Dave Wnuck (Coin Rarities Online), via Mike Wierzba, August 2007.

Estimate: $27500