1759 Martha Washington die trial Judd-2132/Pollock-2083 -- 4th (3rd?) known

jonathanb · June 30, 2008 2:32AM

So I was browsing through eBay a couple of weeks ago and this listing came up. It caught my attention. Would it have caught yours?

Edited to add pictures:

It's been cleaned, but at least "only" with silver polish. He could have used steel wool, I suppose. Small favors...

These pieces were struck in a variety of compositions, as discussed at USPatterns.com. This one is definitely clad. I think it looks like a normal half dollar, so without a real metallurgical analysis I'm calling it Judd-2132.

kranky · June 30, 2008 2:37AM

One of those recent Mint test pieces, isn't it?

SilverEagles92 · June 30, 2008 2:38AM

Right, one of these:

Image from www.uspatterns.com

tmot99 · June 30, 2008 2:39AM

What did you find?

jonathanb · June 30, 2008 2:47AM

It's tough to stump the board!

Yes, this is Judd-2132/Pollock-2083.

USPatterns.com

ANR 12/1/2003
ANR 1/3/2006
Heritage 4/17/2008

Unfortunately, the seller decided that it was too dirty and dipped it in silver cleaner. Aargh! Even so, it should be worth "somewhat more" than I paid...

I'll post real pics tonight.

jonathanb · June 30, 2008 11:39AM

Edited to add pictures in the original post.

seanq · June 30, 2008 12:01PM

Great eye as always, Jonathon. A few follow-up questions for you:

- can you tell if the coin is silver clad or copper-nickel clad?

- is the clashed reverse die noted in Judd or Pollock? Does the die clash help pin down a date or range of dates when the coin could have been struck?

- not having seen the actual auction, based on the bidding do you think any of the others vying for the coin knew what it was?

Sean Reynolds

cinman14 · June 30, 2008 12:03PM

link????????????????????????????????

Rob790 · June 30, 2008 12:09PM

Holy Cow!! You only paid $2.36 for that!

You totally ripped it.

Rob790 · June 30, 2008 12:12PM

<< 
- not having seen the actual auction, based on the bidding do you think any of the others vying for the coin knew what it was?
>>

Not at $2.36, they had no clue.

direwolf1972 · June 30, 2008 12:21PM

I'm lost.

I can usually find closed auctions on eBay rather easily but I cant find a trace of this one, even when trying several different search terms.

With the post being from today I wouldnt think that the auction would be old enough to already purged from eBays system.

jonathanb · June 30, 2008 12:23PM

<< - can you tell if the coin is silver clad or copper-nickel clad? >>

Not with confidence. I think it's copper-nickel, but I'm just going by the color.

<< - is the clashed reverse die noted in Judd or Pollock? Does the die clash help pin down a date or range of dates when the coin could have been struck? >>

The clash isn't mentioned in Pollock. I don't actually have a recent copy of Judd -- I'm not collecting patterns, so it wasn't a priority to get one. Perhaps someone with a copy of Judd can report on that. All three of the auctioned specimens I linked to show some degree of clashing, as well as the struck-on-quarter-planchet specimen that I didn't link to.

<< - not having seen the actual auction, based on the bidding do you think any of the others vying for the coin knew what it was? >>

It looks like Rob790 sleuthed out the original auction. There was only one other bidder, and I think we can be pretty confident he didn't know what it was. My max bid was quite a bit higher than the final price, needless to say...

I definitely wasn't looking for this piece, but I do admit it's on my short list of things to watch for that might show up in a junk box (or equivalent) some day...

cinman14 · June 30, 2008 12:24PM

<< I'm lost.

I can usually find closed auctions on eBay rather easily but I cant find a trace of this one, even when trying several different search terms.

With the post being from today I wouldnt think that the auction would be old enough to already purged from eBays system. >>

I'm at a loss as well..

jonathanb · June 30, 2008 12:26PM

<< I can usually find closed auctions on eBay rather easily but I cant find a trace of this one, even when trying several different search terms.
With the post being from today I wouldnt think that the auction would be old enough to already purged from eBays system. >>

I didn't post immediately; I wanted to wait until I had it in hand. eBay removes listings from the "normal" searches long before they're removed from the system. It's still possible to look at listings from April and maybe earlier if you know the direct link. One way to find this one is to guess that my eBay name might match my username here, and then check out recent feedback.

Here's a direct link.

direwolf1972 · June 30, 2008 12:30PM

Found it

Glad you can read the fine print.

My German is pretty crude. Guess I could have plugged it into babblefish at altavista.

jonathanb · June 30, 2008 12:47PM

Yup. Babelfish is my friend. I use it from time to time in my day job also. The results tend to be pretty hilarious, but you can figure out an awful lot from context and a hint in the right direction.

seanq · June 30, 2008 1:05PM

<< 

<< 
- not having seen the actual auction, based on the bidding do you think any of the others vying for the coin knew what it was?
>>

Not at $2.36, they had no clue. >>

Someone alert the Lords of Suck, I believe the Hall of Champions has a new inductee.

Sean Reynolds