 1723 Rosa Americana Pattern Twopence. Cross on reverse. Nelson-unlisted, Crosby-unlisted, Br.91, Taxay C.70. Very Choice Uncirculated. Bath metal. 223.9 gns. Lovely, rich golden brown in color on both sides. Surfaces smooth, hard, essentially free from granularity and all but the most trivial marks. The obverse has the older head of George I facing left with MAG:BRI:FRA: in his titulature. The reverse is very distinctive and stands out at arm's length as a new type in the series. The legend is nicely balanced left and right, beginning and ending about two-thirds around each side. The word AMERICANA is broken between the third and fourth letters by the cross atop the crown. There is a small cross formed of four beads that separates ROSA from AMERICANA and is the key to the type. Extremely rare: the cataloguer has seen only this specimen but knows of the second, ex Merkin's sale of the Bauer collection (November, 1968), plated as Breen 91. The present piece is ex Dr. Thomas Hall and Virgil Brand. It was plated as the discovery piece by Hall in the American Journal of Numismatics in July, 1903 (pp. 42-4). This is its first auction appearance in over a century. It is also just the second time in nearly 40 years that one of these has been offered for public sale.
Ex Dr. Thomas Hall, Virgil M. Brand Collections; Spink & Son, Ltd. privately on August 13, 1974.
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