1772 Machin's Mills (Atlee) Halfpenny. Vlack 6-72A (R-6+). 105.5 gns. Fine. Although the date is quite weakly defined, this variety is easily identifiable by the die breakage on the reverse and the very distinct obverse bust, which is also shared by the 1776 Large Date Machin's Mills halfpenny. Surfaces are uniformly porous and are a dark brown in hue, with the high points of the devices graced in lighter brown toning. This coin has about as much ''meat'' as the Albany Collection coin but without the superior surfaces of that piece. As with all specimens known of this variety, the reverse is severely broken through the sprig in Britannia's right hand; this specimen is the only specimen we can recall seeing that also has a well-developed break connecting the 'IT' of BRITANNIA to the rim and might represent a very rare die state of a die variety that is in itself very rare!
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