1787 New Jersey Copper. Maris 83-ii, W-5445. Rarity-7-. Good Details--Damage (PCGS).
108.3 grains. 28.3 mm. From our January 2011 sale of the Joel Geoffrey Collection, where it was described as follows: "The seventh finest known of the nine recorded examples from these dies. A coin that is both abysmally ugly and, at the same time, very nice for a Maris 83-ii. The top of the obverse is pleasing tan, a showcase for its perhaps VG quality detail, with complete NOVA CAESAREA and well-defined horsehead. If the entire coin looked like this, it would be one of the finest known. The bottom half of the obverse is covered with some dark scale or ground patina, which unfortunately obscures the detail in that region. On the reverse, the shield is complete, if weak at the top. UNUM is bold, while the center few letters of E PLURIBUS are almost entirely obscured. A circular drillmark is present near the upper left corner of the shield. The Maris 83-ii, considered a likely contemporary counterfeit, has always been one of the most desirable of the rare Maris numbers. It is unique in appearance, evocative, rare, and always in low grades. None appeared on the market between 2001 and 2010 (including Ford, which lacked this number). In March 2010, we sold the Scherff example-considered the ninth finest of nine known- for $17,250. This one has far finer sharpness than that one, which was even in appearance but very well worn." Since Syd bought this over a decade ago, only one Maris 83-ii has come to auction: the Anton-E Pluribus Unum specimen, ranked as fourth finest of the nine listed on the SHI Census. Struck over a 1783 Nova Constellatio copper and graded VF Details, Environmental Damage by PCGS, that piece brought $22,800 in November 2019. Partrick lacked this number entirely. The circulating counterfeits of the New Jersey series (with a strong bias to the die-struck varieties) have always been popular. Maris discovered this variety and owned one at the time of his 1886 sale. Collectors have looked high and low for one of these in the wild ever since. Next to other counterfeits of the era, like Maris 79-ee and Maris 84-kk, this one seems downright common, but only three examples have come to market in the last two decades.
PCGS# 756010.
From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier from our (Stack's) sale of the John Foreman Collection, May 1989, lot 1450; Joel Geoffrey Collection; our January 2011 Americana Sale, lot 6016.