Handsome (1724) Pattern Wood's Hibernia Farthing
Undated (1724) Pattern Wood's Hibernia Farthing. Martin 4.1-F.1, W-Unlisted. Rarity-7. Bath Metal. Specimen-45 (PCGS).
81.5 grains. Smooth and evenly worn to a very dark brown hue, with patch of roughness at 9 o'clock along the reverse periphery and some microscopic granularity noted under magnification. This coin's original bath metal composition is belied only by a lighter golden coloration around the letters in GEORGIUS, below the king's bust, and in the protected areas of the reverse devices. The edge is also markedly golden in tone, displaying also the continuous thin lines following the circumference of the edge as seen frequently on the Rosa Americana issues. The Ford cataloger enumerated 11 of these, but the total known appears to be nine or 10. One (the Norweb duplicate) hasn't been seen in at least 40 years and may be an entry error; conversely, it may have been donated to an institutional collection where modern researchers haven't quite found it yet. Of the other 10, the bottom third are well circulated: Norweb:3489 (VG/F), Roper:129 (Fine), "private collection" (Very Fine). The middle tier pieces are in the VF/EF range: Garrett:1264, the coin offered here, and the Martin duplicate offered in the following lot. The best two are close to Mint State: Brand II:951 - 2001 Americana:48 (Choice EF), Spence:703 - 2001 ANA:5028 (Unc). The final two coins on this list were four entries on the Ford sale census, missing the fact that the 2001 Americana and 2001 ANA coins were reappearances of the Brand and Spence coins, respectively. Only one new one has been discovered since the 2005 Ford sale: the Craige:146 coin, last sold by us in November 2016 as PCGS AU Details--Bent. The Ford cataloger noted that "given its late date and metallic composition, it may properly belong with Wood's Rosa Americana series more than his Hibernias," a fair point considering the absence of this composition among the Wood's Hibernias otherwise.
PCGS# 965.
From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier ex Philip Nelson; E.H.A. Sale of February 2, 1914, lot 1; Hillyer C. Ryder; our (Stack's) Americana Sale of January 2001, lot 49; Anthony Terranova; our (Stack's) sale of the Brian Danforth Collection, January 2009 Americana Sale, lot 7099.