Coins collected under the broad umbrella of “Colonial America” include state-authorized issues like the Massachusetts copper cents and half cents dated 1787 and 1788.

This well-studied series is full of die marriages both rare and common, and one among the toughest is listed as Ryder 2a-F in the book Copper Coins of Massachusetts by Hillyer Ryder. Some believe that the reverse die, with uniquely styled tail feathers on the eagle that only mildly flare outward, was the first die of the entire cent series.

Heritage offered an example on May 4 of the celebrated Transposed Arrows cent variety with the branch below the eagle’s right (facing) wing, graded About Uncirculated Details by NGC, with the modifiers Holed, Environmental Damaged, Scratched.

Heritage adds, “This steel-gray example is sharply defined but has a 1.5 mm hole at the base of the bow. The surfaces are evenly microgranular, and the right obverse field exhibits several thin pinscratches from an attempt to efface a spot near the L in WEALTH.”

The well-detailed rarity with the tidy hole sold for $21,600.

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