1787 Connecticut Copper. Miller 31.1-gg.1, W-3205. Rarity-3. Draped Bust Left. ETLIR. AU-58 (PCGS).
Pleasing chocolate brown with nuances of mahogany patina on both sides, while the reverse is further accented by soft steel gray. Trivial surface deposits at the rim over TOR on the obverse, while a few tiny natural flaws are noted around the portrait. Reverse flaws amount to only a couple of tiny ones, while traces of faded red can be detected close to the rim. Struck off center on both sides, with some of the letters of CONNEC and ET LIB tight to the rim, though there are no losses. The reverse border opposite this shift is broad and thick. Both sides show die deterioration in the form of flowlines and cracks, and the strike definition is soft through the portrait of the effigy and the lower half of Liberty. A really nice example of this issue, called "Finest Known" on Syd's envelope. It is certainly nicer than the similarly sharp but more flawed Stepney Hoard-1975 EAC-Partrick coin, which is graded AU-55 by NGC. It is also nicer than any in our online archives, though some in the Robert Martin notebooks seem of similar quality. High Condition Census seems a safe pronouncement.
PCGS# 685384.
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From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier ex Christopher B. Young, March 2004.

Estimate: $3000