Outstanding 1786 Hercules Head
Extremely Rare 5.3-B.2 The 1975 EAC Sale Specimen
1786 Connecticut Copper. Miller 5.3-B.2, W-2565. Rarity-7+. Mailed Bust Left, Hercules Head. VF-25 (PCGS).
124.2 grains. Uniform deep steel brown on both sides which are glossy with only trivial porosity evident under close inspection. A few subtle natural flaws pepper the obverse while perhaps four or so are noted on the reverse. The only handling flaw is the tiny scratch at 12 o'clock at the obverse rim. Excellent centering on both sides. Only a single letter top is arguably touching the rim border. On the reverse all the letter tops are against the border, but without any meaningful losses. The date digits are a bit more compromised, but all are at least 50% visible. Believed by Randy Clark to be one of the earlier die marriages of the three known for this obverse and the state of the reverse explains the rarity of this pairing. The reverse has only been observed in this pairing and seems to have been a flawed die almost from the outset, lasting but a short time. This is a late state example from a drastically sunken die that produced a prominent circular bulge just inside the border formed by the legend. Just four examples of this rarity are known, so it has been included in very few of even the finest collections. While it was notably missing from the Partrick Collection, it was quite remarkably represented twice in Syd Martin's collection. The four examples are as follows: 1.John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part IX:256. Called "Uncirculated" but with notable planchet flaws on both sides. This was the Henry Miller coin and is considered the finest overall. 2.Heritage's sale of April 2010:2005, which was its first known public offering and the sale that first brought it to light; Twin Leaf, Spring 2019, lot 8106. 3.Garrett Collection, Part III, October 1980:1345. Called "AU" in 1980, and similar to this coin, but with marginally less detail; Sydney F. Martin Primary Coin, October 2022, lot 1334. 4.The present coin. George C. Perkins, January 2000:228. Called "VF," with the reverse much weaker than on the other three. This was the Pine Tree 1975 coin. Though this might be the least sharp of the four known, it is a very nice late-state example with excellent eye appeal. As noted in our sale of Syd's primary collection specimen, all four of these known coins have come to market in the last 20 years, three of them since 2019! With two of the three others having traded hands so recently, it is probably safe to assume that they will remain in their respective collections for a while, as has the Ford coin. This might well be the last chance to get one for a number of years, and the most affordable opportunity! Few collectors will ever have this variety represented in their collections.
PCGS# 905516.
From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier from Pine Tree's 1975 EAC sale, February 1975, lot 62; McLaughlin and Robinson's 6th U.S. Copper Sale, September 1986, lot 30; our (Stack's) sale of the George C. Perkins Collection, January 2000, lot 228; Jim LaSarre, via John Agre and Dave Wnuck (Coin Rarities Online), June 2006.