1787 Massachusetts Half Cent, Ryder 2-A, W-5910, R.5, MS64 Brown PCGS. CAC....

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1787 Massachusetts Half Cent, MS64 Brown
Condition Census Ryder 2-A

1787 Massachusetts Half Cent, Ryder 2-A, W-5910, R.5, MS64 Brown PCGS. CAC. Equivalents. Crosby 2-A; Ryder 2-A; Whitman-5910. Rarity. McGuigan: R.5 (46-60 known). Packard: Low R.4 (159-200 known). Hodder (Ford): R.4 (119 to 160 known). Whitman: URS-9 (125-249 known).
Auction Survey. Just over 12% of the 790 auction appearances of 1787 Massachusetts half cents are attributed as Ryder 2-A. The 97 appearances include 17 described as MS60 or finer.
Obverse 2. The long arrow fletchings are positioned well below the right angle of the W, favoring the center of that letter. A large arrowhead, missing its upper barb, is close to the Indian's tunic. The star is rotated clockwise, its northeast ray pointing to the Indian's eyebrow. The upper part of the bow is well separated from the N. The narrow M-punch has both feet nearly joined to the center angle. Obverse 2 is unique to this die marriage.
Reverse A. The U is recut showing an extra set of serifs, diagnostic for Reverse A. Each S is open with the serifs separated from the curves. The date is separated with the first 7 and the 8 widely spaced. All of the letters are separated and well-spaced. The center arrow joins the eagle's wing tip and the upper leaf joins the other wing. The lowest arrow points to the lower-right curve of the S. The left end of the doubled exergue line is over the serif of the 1. The two outer leaves are positioned below the left and right base of the M. That letter is entirely below the wing tip, diagnostic. Reverse A appears with obverse dies 2, 3, 5, and 6.
Surfaces. Rich chocolate-brown surfaces exhibit full cartwheel luster with delicate blue-steel overtones. Magnification reveals scattered surface marks with a small scrape across the lower wing below the first A. The waist band and tunic are partially detailed with weakness noted on the shield over the eagle's breast. The denomination HALF CENT is fully readable.
Die State. Light vertical die lumps appear in the left obverse field. Spalling (commonly called "die rust") is noted below the M and left of the first T in MASSACHUSETTS.
Condition Census. The MS65 Partrick coin, thought to be the finest known, is only slightly better than the present coin from Jim McGuigan's collection. American Numismatic Rarities sold an MS62 Brown PCGS example in July 2003 that they called Condition Census. The Uncirculated Stickney-Ryder-Boyd-Ford coin was called Condition Census for the variety. A few other Mint State examples have appeared in auctions over many years, but probably less than 10 such pieces exist.

Appearances. Illustrated at PCGS.com. Plated in the Norweb catalog.
PCGS Population (9/21). PCGS has certified 24 1787 Massachusetts half cents as MS64 Brown, three as MS64+ Brown, one as MS64+ Red and Brown, and 12 finer. The population data includes all nine varieties of 1787 Massachusetts half cents.
Commentary. A detailed discussion of Massachusetts coinage history appears in Will Nipper's reference, In Yankee Doodle's Pocket that covers the history of colonial American coinage issues from agricultural commodities known as "country money" to early Federal coinage. From the dust jacket of Nipper's work: "Through the day-to-day instruments of trade and commerce, this book reveals the myriad threads of culture and hidden history that together wove a new nation."
McGuigan Commentary. Choice glossy dark brown planchet. Among the half dozen or so finest known examples of this rare variety.
Provenance. Ex: Norweb Collection (Bowers and Merena, 3/1988), lot 2640.
Personality. One of the all-time great American coin collections was the multi-generation collection of the Holden and Norweb families. Liberty Emery Holden (1833-1913) and his son, Albert Fairchild Holden (1866-1913), assembled the basis of the Norweb Family Collection in the last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century. A lawyer and business leader educated at the University of Michigan, the elder Holden published the Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio. Albert Fairchild Holden, who died of cancer at the young age of 46, was a mining engineer who was educated at Harvard University. Albert's numismatic activities, bidding through agents, were private and largely unknown. His daughter, Emery May Holden, was born in Salt Lake City in 1896 and joined the American Numismatic Association at age 18. She married Raymond Henry Norweb in 1917, and together they greatly expanded the collection of her father and grandfather. Their son, Raymond Henry Norweb, Jr., continued as custodian of the collection until its three-part sale in 1987 and 1988.
From The James R. McGuigan Half Cent Collection.

Coin Index Numbers: (Variety PCGS# 688340, Base PCGS# 296)

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