1787 Connecticut Copper. Miller 33.46-Z.22, W-4030. Rarity-8. Draped Bust Left, INDE over IODE. VG-10 (PCGS).

130.4 grains. Deep, slightly mottled steel brown with nuances of deep violet on both sides. A bit granular, especially toward the peripheries, but this is really not distracting for the grade, nor is it particularly obvious without close study. One natural void at the effigy's shoulder, and a nearby narrow and shallow fissure are noted, but these are the only such flaws in the flan. As for handling marks, there is very little worthy of discussion beyond a faint superficial abrasion across the upper part of the effigy's head, visible in good light. Fairly well centered and with nice detail for the grade. This variety was discovered by George C. Perkins in Stack's September 1989 sale, and first published in the December 1989 Colonial Newsletter, Volume 29, No.3, as the cover article. Perkins acquired the lot and at the time of our January 2000 sale of his collection, it remained the only one known. This example seems to have been discovered by Christopher Young in 2007, and he promptly sold it to Syd. The Robert Martin notebooks reference two pieces in addition to the Perkins coin, one "Dave Palmer-Corroded" and another "VF with carbon spots, reported by S. Tanenbaum, 8/2000." These seem to have remained unverified by Martin, and they have not materialized in the marketplace, either, as far as we are aware. Syd, being the leading collector of his day and quite astute, noted about this coin in 2007, "the only other known example was sold in Perkins. This one is a bit better." So it would seem that the conventional wisdom was that there were really only two confirmed. The Perkins discovery coin was offered in the November 2020 Partrick sale. That coin seems slightly sharper in detail, but rougher in terms of the surface (and possibly eye appeal, in hand). The "best" one might be debatable and rely more upon personal preferences than anything else. In either case, it would seem that only two collectors can certainly own this extremely rare variety.

PCGS# 918309. NGC ID: 2B2X.

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From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier ex Christopher B. Young, April 2007.