1785 IMMUNE COLUMBIA /
NOVA
CONSTELLATIO -
Star between CONSTELLATIO
and NOVA
Variety equivalents:
Breen 1117
Rarity: Very Rare
Notes:
The obverse die of this variety was also used on:
1785 Machin's Mills - Vlack
15-85NY
1785 Immune
Columbia / Nova Constellatio, Pointed Rays, No Extra Star
1785 Immune Columbia / Nova Constelatio, Blunt Rays
The reverse die of this
variety was also used on:
1783 Nova
Constellatio Copper - Crosby 2-B
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Images courtesy of
the National
Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution
Varieties:
Copper
Gold
On May 9, 1843, Matthew Stickney, a coin collector who could only be
called "advanced" by today's standards, visited the United
States Mint and traded a 1785 "Immune Columbia" Cent
overstruck on a 1775 British gold Guinea (plus some other American
Colonial coins) for an 1804 Silver Dollar. Stickney claimed to
have acquired the Immune Columbia from the New York bullion dealers,
Beebee & Parshall, the day before. The gold Immune Columbia
still resides in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian
Institution and no other has ever appeared on the market. Stickney's 1804 Silver Dollar sold on April 6, 1997 for $1,815,000 as
part of the Eliasberg collection and now resides in a PCGS Proof-65
holder in a private collection.
Sources and/or
recommended reading (click on any active link to purchase that book):
"Walter
Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins" by Walter
Breen, p. 119
Auctions by Bowers and Merena, Inc., "The Walter H. Childs
Collection" sale catalog, August 30, 1999, pp 110-111
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