Undated (ca. 1785) Bar Copper. W-8520. Rarity-4. AU-55 (PCGS).

Choice About Uncirculated Bar Copper Rarity A Post-Revolutionary Classic Undated (ca. 1785) Bar Copper. W-8520. Rarity-4. AU-55 (PCGS). A desirable example of this always popular issue, with lovely surfaces and handsome color. Blended olive and autumn-orange brown with choice, smooth features. There are none but trivial handling marks scattered about, which require magnification to discern and are in no way detracting. The impression is tight to the left borers on both sides, where the denticulation is beyond the planchet, but none of the major devices are affected and, in fact, the overall design is sharply rendered and crisp. One would be hard pressed to find a nicer Bar copper at the assigned grade level, in fact, and we expect bidding activity to reflect this fact. One of the most eagerly sought numismatic items from the colonial and early federal era of United States history, the Bar copper is also one of the most enigmatic. We are not sure by whom or under what circumstances these pieces were produced. We are reasonably sure, however, that this type was struck circa 1785, as evidenced by an entry in the November 12, 1785, issue of the New Jersey Gazettee that states: A new and curious kind of coppers have lately made their appearance in New York. The novelty and bright gloss of which keeps them in circulation. These coppers are in fact similar to Continental buttons without eyes; on the one side are thirteen stripes and on the other U.S.A., as was usual on the solders' buttons. The Bar copper is perhaps the early American coin best equipped to illustrate two great narratives of the Revolutionary-era: the military struggle for independence and the economic struggle against crummy coppers. Both the obverse and reverse designs of the Bar coppers were borrowed directly from buttons worn by Continental Army soldiers. The obverse design was commonplace throughout the war on the coats and vests of soldiers from New England to the Carolinas, making this design instantly familiar to most who encountered it. The lifespan of those buttons was longer than the circulation life of a Bar copper, however. The Bar coppers did meet with initial success in the young United States, where a dearth of circulating specie meant that they were eagerly accepted in commerce. At the time of their introduction, however, these coins were among the most underweight of the post-Revolutionary coppers, sometimes weighing as little as half of a Fugio cent. When the Copper Panic of 1789 hit New York, the Hudson Valley, Philadelphia, New Haven, and Boston, these were among the first coppers to be tossed from circulation, which is why AU Bar coppers are more common than VGs. Those AU coins vary widely in quality though and, as above, this one is among the best that the discerning collector is likely to find in certified AU-55. Provenance: From the Emerald Coast Collection. Earlier from Heritage's Denver Signature Auction of August 2006, lot 5010. PCGS# 599. NGC ID: 2B5J. Click here for certification details from PCGS.

Estimate:£0.74

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