"1776" (ca. 1789) Washington Before Boston Medal. First Issued "Original" Obverse / Second Issued Reverse with Error Date. Musante GW-09-P2, Baker 47, var., Betts-542, Mooney M2, var. Copper. AU Details--Damage (PCGS).

68.8 mm. One of the most interesting entries in the Washington Before Boston series, this reverse die features a date well before any Washingtons were mounting up, let alone heading to Boston: MCCLXXVI or 1276, an error caused by omitting the D (500) that should follow the M. Due to this erroneous date, which was later corrected, this type was long believed to be the abandoned earliest version, predating what we now call the "originals" (including Washington's gold specimen). Though this reverse may have been cut first, an uncertain detail, it was not paired with the original obverse die and put into service until after the reverse die used on the original had begun to fail by way of a large buckling through the upper center of the die. The advancement of the obverse die state between the impressions of the originals in gold, silver and bronze and these variants with the error reverse dictate this emission sequence. Close study of this reverse reveals that the error was in the final punching of the Roman numerals, while the proper date was clearly intended from the outset. A fine guideline is visible left of where the date begins, indicating where the first digit was to have been sunk in the steel, though it was punched one position too far to the right. It would seem that very few medals were struck from this reverse before the problem was discovered and the die was reworked. Most are fairly well preserved, but capturing one is a great challenge. With only seven specimens positively confirmed, in fact, this ranks as perhaps the most noteworthy rarity among the varieties of Washington Before Boston medals, gold and silver originals notwithstanding. Five of those known are in fairly high grade, as above, while the other two are damaged. In no particular order: 1 - The LaRiviere Specimen. Ex Presidential Coin and Antique Co.'s sale of June 1980, lot 289; our (Bowers and Merena's) sale of the LaRiviere Collection, November 1999, lot 3029; "DM" Collection. Plated in Musante, p. 47. 2 - The Ford Specimen. Ex Etienne Page, Paris, June 1969; John J. Ford, Jr., our (Stack's) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part II, May 2004, lot 53. 3 - The Robert Marcus Specimen. Ex Presidential Coin and Antique Co., Inc.'s sale of the Robert Marcus Collection, December 2001, lot 197; Presidential Coin and Antique Co., Inc.'s Littman, Sullivan, and Dreyfuss sale, December 2004, lot 225; Marc McDonald; our sale of the Marc McDonald Collection, November 2019 Baltimore Auction, lot 43. Plated in Musante, p. 47. 4 - The Dreyfuss-Adams Specimen. Ex our (Bowers and Merena's, in conjunction with Presidential Coin and Antique Co., Inc.) sale of the David W. Dreyfuss Collection, April 1986, lot 5228; John W. Adams; our sale of the John W. Adams Collection, November 2019 Baltimore Auction, lot 2003. 5 - The Mount Vernon Specimen. An example in the permanent collection of Mount Vernon, acquired in 1981. 6 - The present specimen. Discovered by a paper money dealer in France within the last decade, in a box of miscellaneous medals. 7 - A damaged example with a choice reverse and a tooled/chased obverse. Orphan appearances we note include one in a group lot at the Sotheby, Wilkinson, and Hodge sale of June 1884, lot 95, and another in Otto Hebling (Munich)'s sale of May 1907, lot 3821 (whose description repeats the MCCLXXVI date twice, assuring us it's not a simple typo). Another was offered in Bangs' sale of September 1873 as lot 1116, but marginalia in the ANS copy of the catalog notes "Out, Electrotype." This may be one of the two electrotypes now in the ANS (one, gilt, is ex J. Coolidge Hills; another is ex Norweb). Astoundingly, none appear to have been sold in American auctions until the Dreyfuss-Adams specimen appeared in our (Bowers and Merena's) sale in 1986. Though Baker and Fuld both knew the variety from electrotypes, the first struck piece was not published until Joe Levine's "Washington Before Boston Revisited" in the August 1983 issue of TAMS Journal. The Dreyfuss-Adams example appears to be the piece illustrated in the 1983 article, making it something of a discovery piece. The new discovery offered here shows a number of moderate digs to golden-brown surfaces. The reverse rim is bruised at 10:30 and 12:30, obverse field tooled behind Washington's head, where a graffiti letter B remains lightly visible. Perhaps the worst demerit, however, is tooling in the field below the bust, where the engraver's name has been effaced. Striking detail remains sharp otherwise, all major design elements fully appreciable, including the error date in the reverse exergue. Ranked toward the bottom of the census for the variety, true, but with so few known, and so few opportunities to acquire a specimen, the advanced collector would be well to take advantage of this fleeting offering.

Ex paper money dealer in France, discovered by same in France within the last decade, in a box of miscellaneous medals.