1783 MD 1S Chalmers, Long Worm MS(PCGS#595)

The November 2012 Baltimore Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

6019

等级

VF35

价格

117,227

详细说明

Superb 1783 Chalmers Shilling 1783 John Chalmers Shilling. W-1790. Long Worm. VF-35 (PCGS). 50.2 grains. A nearly flawless specimen of one of the great Confederation-era American issues, with beautiful old toning of deep gray and olive hiding fresh, original surfaces. Hints of faded luster are seen here and there, with the dusty surfaces showing no significant marks or lines, just a tiny nick under E of CHALMERS. The planchet stock for these coins was often poorly made or striated, but this piece shows no such ills. The centering, a constant issue for Chalmers, is nearly ideal, with nearly complete denticles around the obverse and a healthy portion from 10 o'clock to 6 o'clock on the reverse. Well struck, nicely detailed, about as nice as you could ask for in a lightly circulated Chalmers shilling, even despite some fairly substantial pin scratches. For as much as Chalmers issues have increased in value over the last decade -- precipitously for nice ones in particular -- they still seem underappreciated. Chalmers worked just a block away from where the Federal Congress was meeting in Annapolis in late 1783, when these pieces hit circulation. Annapolis engraver Thomas Sparrow accomplished the dies, while Chalmers made the planchets from melted down cut pistareens, producing a coin that was worth exactly one Maryland shilling. The designs are charming and distinctive, something truly special among early American issues. The depiction of two birds fighting over a worm while a snake lurks over the hedgerow was a political cartoon for what was happening in the Maryland State House, practically within earshot of where Chalmers worked. A nice Chalmers shilling remains on plenty of want lists, and we can't imagine any savvy collector turning their nose up at this particularly choice example. PCGS# 595. Provenance: From the John "Jack" Royse Collection. Purchased from Anthony Terranova. Earlier from our (Stack's) 1990 Fixed Price List of Colonial Coins and Medals, lot 56. PCGS Population: 1; 8 finer (MS-61 finest).