 1776 Continental Currency dollar. Newman 1-C. Rarity-3. CURENCY. Pewter. EF-45 (PCGS). Die alignment about 45º, WE on reverse points to 7:30 when the coin is turned on its horizontal axis. Bright silver gray surfaces support slate gray devices, offering a delightful monochromatic cameo appearance as a result. Some scattered marks are present, chief among them an old, small obverse scrape between the rings below the L of CONTINENTAL, many other tiny marks can be found with diligent magnified scrutiny, but generally all but a small patch of old, faint scratches at 2:00 on the reverse elude the unaided eye. Obverse die state with crack across ON of CONTINENTAL, then forming a cud at the top of UG in FUGIO, then reforming as a pair of cuds at NT of that word. Overall, a nice example of the popular and curious variety with CURENCY spelling—either a die-sinker's mistake or a perfectly acceptable spelling of "currency" in 18th-century America. One of the most popular of all early American issues, the first coin to proclaim the brashness of the newly formed nation and its infant congress, and, of course, a coin that proudly proclaims the date 1776, the most important year in American history.
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