Auction Name: 2026 January 14 - 17 FUN US Coins Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 3012

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/1390*3012

(1785) Bar Copper MS65 Brown NGC. CAC. Rulau-E-NY-621, Breen-1145, W-8520, R.4. 85.1 grains. Ex: Craige, Partrick. Lustrous light brown surfaces overlay reflective fields on this impressive Gem Bar Copper. Abrasions are minimal, as the Gem grade suggests; an achievement made even more impressive given the simple design with few elements to catch the eye. Full borders are present on both sides, although the reverse dentils are tight at 5 o'clock.

Although no date appears on either side of the famous Bar copper, the coins were described in the New Jersey Gazette of November 12, 1785:

"A new and curious kind of coppers have lately made their appearance in New York. The novelty and bright gloss of which keeps them in circulation. These coppers are in fact similar to Continental buttons without eyes; on the one side are thirteen stripes and on the other U.S.A., as was usual on the soldiers' buttons."

The date of that newspaper report, as well as the reference to Revolutionary War buttons, provides strong evidence that the original Bar coppers were produced that year. The details surrounding this manufacture remain sketchy at best, although the most likely creator is Thomas Wyon in Birmingham, England. Examples of this scarce colonial-era copper appear in the marketplace with some frequency, and most are in higher grades. However, these survivors rarely reach the Gem condition of the present example, nor do they contain the incredible Picker-Craige-Partrick pedigree. Listed on page 41 of the 2026 Guide Book. Census: 2 in 65 Brown, 0 finer. CAC: 1 in 65, 2 finer (10/25).
Ex: Richard Picker; Ted L. Craige (5/18/1971); The Donald Groves Partrick Collection / FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2015), lot 5661.
From The Peter Bowe Collection.

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