1786 NY 1/2P Non Vi Virtute Vici, Small Head, BN MS(PCGS#422)

Winter 2022 U.S. Coins Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

2002

等级

AU53BN

价格

186,445

详细说明

Choice 1786 Non Vi Virtute Vici Copper A Classic Early American Rarity Circa 1786 Non Vi Virtute Vici Copper. Small Head. Musante GW-7, Baker-13, Breen-977. Copper. AU-53 (PCGS). 28.3 mm. 135.0 grains. A handsome specimen of this early rarity, with slightly olive brown surfaces that are largely glossy and fairly uniform save for some gentle brick highlights through the recesses of the obverse legend. The most obvious mark is a partial planchet cutter impression that curves through each side, near the center. This is as made, and in terms of handling there is little to speak of beyond one thin reverse scratch. Slight porosity or roughness is noted through the upper and leftmost areas of the obverse, but as noted, the overall impression is of a glossy and most handsome example. The centers exhibit minor weakness, but nearly all the major design elements can be made out with ease. Beautifully centered on both sides with the legends and date full and well away from the rims. An early rarity that is reported to be represented by somewhere between two to three dozen specimens, depending upon the source. In the modern era, as third-party grading has become an essential marketing tool, the population data has become increasingly useful in determining market availability. NGC has graded four pieces, while PCGS reports nine grading events. Several pieces are in institutional collections such as ANS and Colonial Williamsburg, and those will not be available to collectors. Among those in collector's hands, several are rough, so pieces with choice surfaces, like this one, are outstanding and quite desirable. It has been more than four years since one appeared in our sales, and the last was a tooled, pitted VF from the Archangel Collection. This is far prettier and will probably be seen as very much worth the wait for anyone who has been seeking this tough type. The Non Vi Virtute Vici copper has long been recognized as a rarity. The earliest auction appearance we have seen was in the 1863 Benjamin Haines Collection sale, where one in "remarkably fine condition" was identified as "one of the very rarest of the early colonial or Washington pieces." It brought $56, selling to William Sumner Appleton. Provenance: From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier from our (Stack's) sale of the Farish Baldenhofer Collection, November 1955, lot 46; our (Stack's) sale of the Park Collection, May 1976, lot 57; our (Bowers and Ruddy's) sale of the Donald F. Herdman Collection, December 1977, lot 5066; our (Bowers and Merena's) sale of the Sebring and Garbe Collections, March 1996, lot 1123; Anthony Terranova; Lawrence R. Stack Collection, November 2006. Click here for certification details from PCGS. Image with the PCGS TrueView logo is obtained from and is subject to a license agreement with Collectors Universe, Inc. and its divisions PCGS and PSA. Click here to see Coins in Motion.[“Coins]