 1776 Continental Dollar. CURENCY spelling. Dots partially re-cut to rings on reverse. Newman 1-B. Hodder 1-A.2. Brass (R-7-). 244.8 gns. Usual twin leaf edge device. Dies oriented about 20 degrees, approximating ''medal turn.'' Extremely Fine.
The design motifs on both sides are based on sketches by Benjamin Franklin, first used on the paper Continental Currency emission of February 17, 1776 and later also on the Fugio Cents of 1787. A radiant sunface illuminates a sundial at center, with the legend FUGIO (translated as ''I Fly'', referring to the flight of time) between two solid circles, and the legend MIND YOUR BUSINESS below sundial, goading the viewer to not waste time in one's daily affairs. The legend CONTINENTAL CURRENCY 1776 is at outer obverse circumference. The reverse is composed of motifs and legends that also radiate from the center. At dead center is the legend WE ARE ONE, surrounded by a circle, followed by AMERICAn CONGRESS surrounded by a radiate circle. Around the entire circumference are linked rings inscribed with the 13 colonies' names in full or in abbreviation.
Surfaces are a pleasing brassy yellow-gold with rich olive overtones on both sides. The brass alloy has fared quite well over the centuries, being mostly smooth with some minor patches of graininess noted around 'TI' of CONTINENTAL and in the area immediately above the sundial. A few, very minor and toned over pin scratches from sundial upwards to outer ring are the only accidental surface marks worthy of specific mention. The strike is remarkably bold for the issue, which is usually quite weakly defined at its centers. This specimen exhibits the usual weakness of definition in the horizontal lines flanking the sundial, but the definition in the radiant sunface is fuller than found on most higher grade brass specimens. In fact, the sunface's eyes and long mouth are clearly visible without need for magnification.
Several of the letters in the various states' names on the reverse are clearly repunched, although the exact die state is difficult to determine due to a close, shift double strike of the reverse which is most severe at the GEORGIA ring and least severe at N.JERSEY; these extremes in severity of double striking at opposing points along the circumference suggest a reverse die that was loose and that pivoted during the striking process, with a pivot point along the rim near N.JERSEY. PCGS XF40.
The origins and purpose of the metallic issues of 1776 Continental Currency are currently obscure and have been since these coins were first published in the 1780's. For a long time, the brass specimens were called ''patterns'' or ''experimental'' pieces. Mike Hodder's seminal die, die state and metallic sequence study in the 1991 ANA Anthology found that brass, pewter and silver specimens were struck interchangeably in the life of a given die pairing, preventing attribution of the silver and brass specimens as some sort of pattern or presentation strikes. They are indeed some integral part of the metallic 1776 Continental Currency.
It has been suggested that based upon the weight of the brass specimens, they are in fact some sort of penny based on the New York standard of 8 shillings to the Spanish milled dollar. This is based further upon the reasoned conjecture that the first of two die-interlinked groups of Continental Currency (die pairings 1-A, 1-B, 1-C and 2-C) was struck in New York City before the Congress' evacuation and the British occupation of that city and that New York played a part in the Continental Currency's striking. A site in Philadelphia or Lancaster has been suggested for the second group of die-interlinked Continental Currency (die pairings 3-D, 4-D and 5-D), thought to have been made after Congress' evacuation from New York City to Pennsylvania.
The Continental Currency issues have traditionally been called ''dollars'' not only after their size but also after the researches of Eric Newman, who pointed to the absence of the Dollar denomination from the paper currency issues of the Continental Congress starting with the issue of July 22, 1776 and continuing through the issue of September 26, 1778, and John Ford, who pointed out that New York state's paper issue of August 13, 1776 was also absent the Dollar denomination. It was the feeling of both Newman and Ford that the Continental ''Dollars'' filled these voids in the paper emissions.
Whatever the metallic Continental Currency issues of 1776 may be, their official legends and their linkage of types to the paper currency issued by the Continental Congress point to their official sanction by our revolutionary Congress. What is abundantly clear is the rarity of the brass issues. Fifteen or fewer are known in brass, with a dozen or less known of die pairing 1-B, which shows the beaded rings partially recut to circles on the reverse. Just three are known in brass of 1-A, which exhibit rings that are fully beaded.
Most survivors in brass tend toward the higher grades, with recorded conditions weighted in the Extremely Fine to Uncirculated range. This, the Roper specimen, falls comfortably within this range, and has been off the market for over 20 years. Its long absence from the marketplace is not unusual for these brass Continental Dollars, which tend to be enjoyed by advanced collectors for decades before being sold privately or at auction. Witness the Ford, Carter, Norweb, Garrett, Robison and Laird Park specimens, all of which were tightly held for long periods of time or have not been seen in decades.
The unique influx of multiple brass specimens into the supply chain in the 1980's has not been repeated since, with the only recent auction appearance being the Ford-Boyd-Brand specimen sold in our sales rooms on October 14, 2003 in the inaugural offering from the Ford collection. The surviving population in brass has also remained quite constant, lacking any public discoveries of specimens that are new to the census.
One day, archival research might unravel the mystery of the origins of the metallic Continental Currency, placing the silver, brass and pewter survivors in their most proper context. In the meantime, we must enjoy these enigmatic issues for what they are - very rare survivors of an early and important monetary expedient of the Continental Congress.
Ex the John L. Roper Collection (Stack's, December 1983, lot 198).
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| Hammer Price: $125,000.00
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