Breen-208, W-11500 variety, ‘Nothing Under the King’ type.

An astonishing, original, uncirculated example, this is the only mint state St. Patrick piece certified by PCGS in any grade, and one of what we believe are just two known specimens that could ever rightly earn that designation.

The only other Farthing to trade publicly which might be considered approximately comparable in sharpness to this piece is the Maris-Garrett specimen (though we note that it was described as “AU” in the Garrett catalog), that piece has been off the market for a generation and may not trade again in our lifetimes.

As such, the present piece is likely the highest graded example to be available anytime in the foreseeable future, with choice, original golden brown color and a very sharp strike revealing details in the golden crown and on St. Patrick’s face that we did not know existed on this issue.

It is not perfect though, with some die cracking and deep brown color around the splasher on the King side, both as made, and a few old scratches on the St. Patrick side, the most noticeable of which is in the left field, though it is well blended into the surface and less obtrusive in hand than in our photo.  Of course, any flaws should be viewed in the context of an issue that simply doesn’t exist any better.

Indeed, in the past dozen years or so, we’ve seen and handled hundreds of St. Pats Farthings of all varieties, including a small number that we would consider to be nice AU’s, but none of those were even close to this one.

Ex Stack’s August 2006 sale, lot #79, earlier Stack’s September 1987 sale, lot #139, earlier New Netherland’s May 1953 sale, lot #796, earlier Henry Chapman, where in each and every one of these appearances it was described as “Uncirculated”, and variously lauded as “The most amazing St. Patrick Farthing we have seen” and “. . . in a remarkable state of preservation”.  This is also the plate coin in Robert Vlack’s ‘Early American Coins’ published in the early 1960’s.  

To order or inquire about this item, call us at 1-800-Coins-99 or email us at John@CoinRaritiesOnline.com or complete the form at the bottom of this page.