SBG SPRING 2026 SHOWCASE COLONIAL COINS

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V29 2026 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 29, Number 10, 2026, Article 15

Here are several selected Colonial Coin rarities in Stack's Bowers Spring 2026 Global Showcase Auction. -Garrett

Undated (ca. 1652-1674) St. Patrick Farthing. Martin 1d.1-Ba.11, W-11500. Rarity-6+. Silver. Nothing Below King. AU-55 (PCGS). Martin 1d.1-Ba.11 is the most available of the 15 St. Patrick farthing die varieties known in silver, but still rare in absolute sense with just a few dozen examples extant. Martin estimates that no more than 100 silver St. Patrick farthings exist in total. The finest from these dies is probably the impressive Ted Craige example graded PCGS AU-58+ that we sold in November 2012 for $80,500. The present coin is not quite as sharp but is still a remarkably high quality piece and would almost certainly be included in a Condition Census were one to be compiled. In any event, an outstanding silver St. Patrick farthing, always a classy and desirable colonial type coin.

"1776" (1783) Continental Dollar. Newman 1-B, W-8435. Rarity-7+. CURENCY, Partially Dotted Rings. Pewter. EF Details--Damage (PCGS). The B reverse, with its partially dotted rings, is essentially a die state of the Newman C reverse before it underwent major reworking to make the rings solid instead of dotted. Because of this, ring and letter positions are the same, but Newman 1-B shares certain hallmarks beyond the presence of partially dotted rings. All Newman 1-B specimens were struck before Obverse 1 develops a die break over GI in FUGIO. The punctuation after AMERICAN (in AMERICAN CONGRESS, on the reverse) appears as a comma instead of a period. The same lapping process that reduced the comma also later reduced the length of the rays right of CONGRESS. Perhaps most notably, a die chip (likely from spalling) appears within the center of the Pennsylvania ring at the lower right reverse on all Newman 1-B coins, but the reworking to Reverse C removed it entirely.

When Breen wrote about this variety for his 1988 Encyclopedia, only two were known: the Picker coin (described as unique in 1984) and another more recent discovery. We sold the third known example (PCGS Fine-12) in our (Stack's) September 2006 sale, and three others prior to this one in the last 15 or so years, most of which were not straight graded. There appears to be a total of fewer than 10 known in pewter, with about the same number in brass.

Undated (1850s) Good Samaritan / Oak Tree Shilling Muling. Dies by Thomas Wyatt. Noe-GO, W-14100. Gold. Overstruck on an English Guinea. MS-65 (PCGS). 4.18 grams. This is the unique muling of these Wyatt dies in gold, as described in the 2020 edition of the Whitman Encyclopedia of Colonial and Early American Coins as, "Struck over an English gold guinea by Edwin Bishop." Visually pleasing and of the utmost rarity, we have difficulty imagining a more desirable example of this famous Wyatt-Bishop concoction, and once the present specimen sells, it may be a long time before it reappears in the market.

Provenance: From Doyle's sale of the Loye L. Lauder Collection, December 1983, lot 124.

"1781" (1783) Libertas Americana Medal. Original. Paris Mint. By Augustin Dupre. Betts-615, Adams-Bentley-15. Copper. MS-63 BN (PCGS). Landing in the number one spot in the popular reference 100 Greatest American Medals and Tokens, the Libertas Americana medal has always been an object of intense desire. These pieces were struck in Paris to commemorate peace following the American victory over Great Britain in the Revolutionary War. It is the most symbolic and desirable of all of the peace medals. The concept and mottoes that make up the design are attributed to Benjamin Franklin, who at the time was serving as U.S. commissioner to France. While in France, Franklin set about the production of a medal to give to a select few he deemed instrumental in securing American independence. The Libertas Americana medal was to be symbolic of the winning of American liberty, not only on the battlefields of the New World but also in the courts of Europe, most particularly that of France. For without French support American victory over Great Britain would not have been possible. And since it was Franklin who secured the support of the king and queen of France, he was as indispensable to the political victory of the American Colonies as George Washington was to their military victory.

The dies for the Libertas Americana medal were cut in Paris in 1782 by Augustin Dupre. The obverse portrait would later influence the first renditions of Liberty to appear on United States coinage, specifically those of the Liberty Cap copper coinage and the Flowing Hair silver coinage. The reverse design is highly symbolic, the two serpents representing the American victory over the British at the battles of Saratoga and Yorktown, but Minerva keeping the British lion at bay confirming that ultimate American independence would not have been possible without French aid. The dates in exergue on the reverse are the dates of the colonists' victories over General John Burgoyne at Saratoga and General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown.

All original Libertas Americana medals are scarce-to-rare pieces (Paris Mint restrikes of later years have bullion or minimal value) with most examples encountered in today's market being copper impressions, as here. Far rarer are the silver strikings that Franklin himself presented to French ministers, "as a monumental acknowledgement, which may go down to future ages, of the obligations [the United States is] under to [the French] nation." Two gold strikings that Franklin presented to King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette of France are not traced.

While we have been extremely fortunate to have offered a number of bronze Libertas Americana medals in recent years, few have been as attractive and desirable as this premium quality example. Strong bids are encouraged.

Provenance: Ex Richard Picker, April 1969; our Baltimore Auction of November 2016, lot 73.

1797 George Washington General Grand Master Medal. Musante GW-29, Baker-288. Silver. Engrailed Edge. EF Details--Holed (PCGS). Though this is pierced for suspension, such treatment is not exactly rare amongst these medals, illustrating that at least some of them were used as adornment. All three of the known uniface Sheffield plate specimens are pierced, as are three of the documented brass examples, of which the present writer has confirmation of 17 total specimens.

There are potentially four examples in silver. Since 1981, no silver example has been seen until now. This is now one of just two we know to survive with certainty. No one has had a chance to buy one of these in silver in more than four decades.

As given in our 2022 sale of the unique plain edge R. Coulton Davis specimen in brass, "the connection of these medals to Peter Getz of Lancaster is both evident and undocumented. The portrait on this medal is not a precise match for those found on the 1792 private patterns by the Lancaster silversmith, but it is either by the same hand or, quite possibly, a copyist's attempt. The detail on the epaulet is quite different, but otherwise the portrait here is plainly copying the 1792 pieces by Getz. Numismatic tradition has long attributed these to Getz's hand, and even today he's as good a guess as any. Getz was an active mason in Lancaster, was master of his local lodge in 1794, and he worked as a die engraver in this era. However, Neil Musante suggested in his Medallic Washington that this medal was probably not by Getz. His reasoning is arguable (it hinged on the famous but now broken ladle owned by a Virginia Masonic lodge), but his conclusion is probably right.

"The key piece of evidence in identifying the authorship of this medal was discovered in an unusual place: the archives of the descendants of Adam Eckfeldt, which hit the market in 2014. A manuscript entitled 'An inventory of Coining Machines taken from Richard Harpers & sent to the Mint of United States by order of the Mayor of this City Aug. 29th, 1797.' The authors of 1792: Birth of a Nation's Coinage make the assumption that Richard Harper was the son of the recently deceased minter and sawmaker John Harper of Philadelphia, who died in either late 1796 or early 1797. The inventory is fascinating, including '1 Coining press complete with a Leaver without balls,' a cutting press, a rolling press, and most everything else someone would need to operate a private mint. For our purposes, the dies on hand are most interesting. They include a single die for 'Jersey half pence' along with '2 Dies of General Washington Heads' and '1 [die] of the face Masons coat of Arms.' In other words, this 1797 inventory from the estate of John Harper appears to list the obverse and reverse dies of this exact medal.

"As a coiner, Harper is not necessarily the engraver of this medal; indeed, he may have been contracted by an engraver like Getz to produce them. Saw makers weren't usually the artistic sort, but someone had to have engraved the dies for the cents Harper struck privately in 1795, now known as 'Jefferson Head' cents. It could have been Harper, or Getz, or someone else entirely."

1805 Eccleston Medal. Musante GW-88, Baker-85A. Bronze, Fire Gilt. With Eccleston's Secret Marks. Mint State. The reverse die is cracked through the right of the central medallion, connecting the letters S OURS, and a small rim cud is noted over THE at 9 o'clock, identifying this as a somewhat later die state than some seen.

This is one of just 10 fire gilt Eccleston medals we have accounted for, and again, it is arguably one of the nicest. It bears the three "secret marks" that we first published in our November 2019 Historical Society of Pennsylvania sale at lot 20076. As discussed there, these punches are found on very few Eccleston medals, but were clearly deliberate and certainly done at the request of the publisher, Daniel Eccleston, and by the hand of the maker, Thomas Webb. There are just four or five known bronzes with these marks, and all but one or two of the fire gilt examples bear them. The fact that Thomas Jefferson's example (a fire gilt medal that he received directly from Daniel Eccleston, still residing at Monticello) bears the punch marks illustrates that these were added at the source. The marks are as follows:

Obverse: A tiny triangular punch in the truncation next to the engraver's name, WEBB.

Reverse: A small circular punch within the space formed between the Native American's body and the (viewer's) right arm.

Reverse: A small square punch beneath the exergual line of the central medallion.

1847 Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association Award Medal. Harkness Ma-70, Julian AM-33. Gold. MS-63 (PCGS). With Original Case. 38.0 mm. 50.1 grams, XRF tested .9904 fine (99.04% Au, 0.442% Ag, 0.521% Cu), 1.595 troy oz AGW. Central reverse inscribed to the recipient HY. H. STEVENS & CO. / FOR LINEN / GOODS / EXHIBITION / OF / 1847. The original maroon leather exterior, purple plush interior slipcase is nicely preserved apart from some light to moderate external scuffing that hardly detracts. (Total: 1 medal; 1 case)

1853 Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association Award Medal. Harkness Ma-70, Julian AM-33. Gold. About Uncirculated. 38.5 mm. 44.1 grams, XRF tested 0.870 fine, 1.233 troy ounces AGW. Central reverse inscribed to the recipient P.B. TYLER / FOR / PATENT / SAFETY SWITCH. / EXHIBITION OF / 1853. A tad hazy in areas, and with light handling marks, although the design elements remain crisp and the fields are nicely reflective.

1870 New York State Agricultural Society Award Medal. Harkness-Ny 392, Julian AM-61. Gold. Specimen-63 (PCGS). 53.0 mm. 86.35 grams, .999 fine, 2.78 troy ounces AGW. Central reverse inscribed to the recipient AWARDED / TO / WALCOTT & / CAMPBELL, / AYRSHIRE / HERD PRIZE. / UTICA, 1870. Julian reports that the United States Mint did not receive the dies (two pairs) for this type until 1885, so the present example must be one of those specimens that the author states were struck prior to 1870 at private mints. Indeed, the dies for this type were prepared in the 1840s by William Joseph Taylor in Birmingham, England, using designs supplied by Francis Rotch, Esq., in fulfillment of an order placed by the Society. The latter received the dies, as well as the first medals struck, in 1845. This is only the sixth gold impression that we have offered in recent memory. The example awarded to Walcott & Campbell in 1868 that realized $10,200 in our June 2025 Showcase Auction was certified Specimen-62 by PCGS.