***COLONIALS*** For the Weekend!!

ambro51

There is something amazing about old copper. More than ANY other coin, it lets you understand the hardscrabble World of our Ancestors. One of my Favorites is the Vermont Ryder 9, long known as the "Baby Head". In addition to the unusual depictions, it is unique among native Vermont Coppers in that the die never broke down.

LanceNewmanOCC

ambro51

Certainly the most important coin in Colonial times..hard money at its finest....

CoinRaritiesOnline

STONE

Sort of a colonial!

agentjim007

ambro51

mbogoman

ambro51

....Great Coins! I pity collectors of boring modernish coins... They miss so much of the fun! A new pursuit, and a piece often found in Vermont and Maine,, Canadian Blacksmith Copper Wood 33.

Type2

Is this one?

johnny9434

<< <i> >>

i mgiht learn to like this one real quick

Shamika

As time goes on I'm thinking ambro51's collection is the one I most covet.

DonWillis

Stacks Bowers has an amazing number of Colonials in their upcoming auction.

Text

DonWillis

jmski52

ambro51, did someone recently say that the Vermont coppers were also made at Machins Mills? Does anyone know a good reading source about that?

ambro51

It was a very complicated agreement between several people involved with the Official Vermont mint at Rupert Vt and Tomas Machin and others. The entire contract can be found in Crosbys 1875 work "the Early Coins of America". Ryder 2 through Ryder 11 and Ryder 15 were struck at Rupert, all the rest at Machins Mills. One main driving factor was the extreme difficulty of procuring dies at the Rupert Mint. The Landscape coppers proved to be a difficult coin to strike and die failure was quick. It's not known if actual dies made at Machins Mills were actually sent to Vermont and used there. The great difference in planchet quality seems to suggest all 1787 (except R15) And the 1788 issues were struck at Machins Mill. Production continued there until 1789-90 as coppers lost value making it very cost inefficient to continue production...the Vermont Immune Columbia may be one of Machins Mills last products.

CoinRaritiesOnline

Here is a better look at the reverse design:

ambro51

Beautifully detailed piece you're lucky to own one so nice!

jmski52

Thanks for the info. Now it looks like I've got to come up with a copy of the book and I also need to expand my Machins Mills Type Set!

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ambro51

The Immune Columbia is both beautiful and mysterious. It's origins are unknown and it shares no features in common with English pieces. It was muled with several reverses over an unknown time frame. Last impressions were no doubt from Machins Mills and the last use of the die was the Georgivs III • REX• piece which shows the die very flat and worn.

mgoodm3

rays

1788 Machin's Mills circulating imitation halfpenny. Vlack 23-88A.

ambro51

Blacksmith Copper Wood 4.

CoinRaritiesOnline

jmski52

Thanks guys. This is a very cool thread.

ambro51

A Cool Thread Indeed. I think old copper is the "soul" of Numismatics.

CoinRaritiesOnline

rays

jmski52

That's the nicest one of those I've ever seen, Ray - even in a picture!

rays

<< <i>That's the nicest one of those I've ever seen, Ray - even in a picture! >>



It came courtesy of Coin Rarities Online.

ambro51

(Not My Coin). The real Prize in Colonials is the Unique Gold Strike. A stunning piece here is its image plus some info. Images courtesy of the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution
Varieties:
Copper 
Gold
On May 9, 1843, Matthew Stickney, a coin collector who could only be called "advanced" by today's standards, visited the United States Mint and traded a 1785 "Immune Columbia" Cent overstruck on a 1775 British gold Guinea (plus some other American Colonial coins) for an 1804 Silver Dollar.  Stickney claimed to have acquired the Immune Columbia from the New York bullion dealers, Beebee & Parshall, the day before.  The gold Immune Columbia still resides in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution and no other has ever appeared on the market.  Stickney's 1804 Silver Dollar sold on April 6, 1997 for $1,815,000 as part of the Eliasberg collection and now resides in a PCGS Proof-65 holder in a private collection.

CoinRaritiesOnline