There are a few known facts that form into a timeline with this coin. Abel Buell was probably the most skilled metalworker of the era. He developed the "Hubbing " technique . His 14 year old son William "according to legend" was carrying the obverse and reverse 1786 dated hubs to Rupert Vermont mint. On the way he was accosted by Indians who eventually wanted to drink what the thought was rum from the jug. William couldn't prevent it and one of the Indians drank the acid etc etc. well the Indians chased after William all the way to Vermont. It's not recorded how he finally eluded them. The hubs (or possibly unfinished dies ) were then stamped with the lettering. We know this since the exact bust is on all three varieties but each has different lettering. An emission sequence has been realized from ths Ryder 11 to the 15 then back to the 11 from the progression of a specific die crack It shows that after coining the 11, the 15 reverse die was installed. It is thought NO 15s exist without the large cud which obscures the lower portion of the date. And even though "quality control" was laughable...they decided after only a handful of strikes to pull the wounded die and reinstall the 11 reverse and strike more of those. A very few 15s show a beginning of the crack. Today about 150 of the 11s are known and 20 of the 15s, so we're not talking large montages to begin with.
One project I like to work on is doing an SEM/EDS study on why Vermonts laminate more than any other Colonial Copper.
John Lorenzo Numismatist United States
Primarily a collector of error coins over the next decade after collecting for 40 years. Have collected & studied every coin series in the Western Hemishere - yes - even ...
I've really been studying one area on the coin trying to determine a. " degree of wear grade". For that you need a well struck portion which is relatively problem free. Zooming in on the reverse figures upper arm we see a few crucial grading points. Where the spear crosses the arm, and seeing a clear division, usually means very light wear. The arm appears rounded , rather than flattened. That signifies light wear. Moving up to the hand... The fingers are very distinct. Other points that only show on the coin in high grade iOS the strong lower left armor detail and also the football like eye seen at the upper point of the nose. Add those features up and there are are aspects of (don't laugh) VF in there.
I've just started researching this coin. I'm pretty sure it's a recent discovery a decade or so ago. There is an Internet hit on a 1787 bust left found detecting...it's fun to follow the guys excitement but it turned out to be a 1786. I've located images of about half the survivors so far. Some nicely detailed pieces and a some bad looking pieces. As may be suspected, information is very scant. If anyone has any material on the 15 id love to get scans.
Comments
little did the creators of these know in 2013...
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John Lorenzo
Numismatist
United States