Freidus 3.2-C, W-8260 variety, Broad Axe J CUT MY WAY THROUGH type.

One of the classic colonial rarities and always in very great demand as such.

And this is a well balanced and pleasing example, with an even, centered strike, a nice round planchet and no singularly important damage or defect of note.

Rich, natural brown with some reddish tone on the obverse and reverse and quite attractive.  The surfaces are micro-granular throughout, with a U-shaped swath of heavier granularity on the lower reverse, but the overall impression is above average for this challenging type. The detail in particular is relatively sharp, with virtually complete legends and, importantly, a well defined deer.

The current census of this die variety lists a total of but eight specimens, of which one is in the Smithsonian, a second is in the British Museum and a third (the Eric Newman coin) is destined for an institutional collection. A fourth example is unaccounted for, leaving a collectible population of only four coins: the Garrett coin, the Robison coin, this coin, and a piece that was sold by Bowers and Ruddy in 1976 and was last seen publicly in 1985. Of note, the Ford collection did not contain any specimens of this variety.

Ex Stack’s sale of the John Roper Collection, December 1983, lot #152.

This coin is from the CRO archives and is not currently available for sale.