Often the rarest Colonial American coins aren’t particularly pretty, such as the featured 1785 Connecticut copper coin representing the legendary Miller 6.6-A.3 “Cracked Head” variety, which is unique.

It was discovered in 2001 and the obverse die was new to researchers, “with its distinctive hand-cut detail and the dramatically thick die crack bisecting the entire die, the likes of which aren’t seen on any other 1785 Connecticut.”

The find was published in the April 2004 Colonial Newsletter and was only the second new 1785 variety to be found since the publication of The State Coinage of Connecticut by Henry C. Miller in 1920.

Stack’s Bowers Galleries calls it well-struck, observing, “Clearly a ground find, with granular dark brown surfaces that exhibit areas of pitting, verdigris, and scale, as well as some erosion around the rims. The detail is quite amazing and this was clearly a high grade, likely close to Uncirculated, coin before it was lost to the earth.”

The coin, graded Professional Coin Grading Service Extremely Fine Details with an Environmental Damage modifier, realized $43,200 in the October Sydney F. Martin Collection auction.

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