Help needed on 1786 New Jersey post-colonial

rhedden

I picked up an unattributed 1786 New Jersey copper last weekend, and it was a variety I did not instantly recognize. After some searching, I identified it as variety 19-M from Maris' original 1881 photo plates (yes, I'm sure it's not the common 18-M). Coinfacts lists it as "Rare," which usually means R-5, but I cannot find a single auction record for this variety in the Heritage archives since 1993. Searching though some auction catalogs at home produced nothing. Does anyone here have current knowledge of its rarity, or the number of known pieces?

My coin is a bit banged up and I didn't take its picture yet, so instead I thought I would provide a link to some pictures of really sweet New Jersey coppers, if anyone would like to see several dozen of the varieties in one place:

Notre Dame - New Jersey Coppers

Edited to add: this is a useful resource because they have photos of several that are not pictured on Coinfacts, including 19-M.

Dennis88

I have no idea on your coin but thanks for the link. Looks very interesting and a great site for research.

Dennis

novacaesarea

Hi rhedden,

The Maris 19-M is an R-5 coin that is generally seen in lower grades. I would say there are maybe 50 to 60 in existence. A problem free VF would be a very nice coin. It is part of the "wide shield" family so it is also a distinct Red Book type coin.

Best,

novacaesarea

rhedden

Novacaesaraea- thanks very much for your feedback on the 19-M. I was hoping it was R6 or R7, but I bought it as "common," so it would be hard to complain about a mere R5 cherrypick. My example has details of F-VF, but it was obviously buried in the ground, has some obverse porosity, and some minor damage due to being crimped in some sort of device (or vice), possibly to straighten an old bend. I will still be happy to own it, since I might not encounter another one for 10 years.