NNP: AN UNPUBLISHED VERMONT ENIGMA PLATE

An Unpublished Vermont Enigma Plate

 

Recently the Newman Portal scanned a photographic paste-up plate, from the Eric Newman papers, that was apparently intended for publication with Newman's article A Recently Discovered Coin Solves a Vermont Numismatic Enigma, from the Centennial Publication of the American Numismatic Society (1958). Although this plate does not include the Enigma coin, the layout and typography are consistent with those published.

The plate depicts die marriages within the Vermont series and would have provided broader illustrative evidence than was ultimately published. This plate is double-sized, which may have presented publication challenges. Newman's article proposed a punch interlock between the Vermont and counterfeit halfpence series, which explained the unexpected appearance of British insignia on a post-Independence American coin.

In the Winter 2022 C4 Newsletter, Jim Rosen and William Eckberg challenged Newman's proposed punch linking with the use of digital overlays. The two authors concluded that the variance demonstrated in the images was too great to be the result of recutting individual dies.

Image: The Vermont Enigma coin (1776 Georgivs III Machin's Mills halfpence) from the Newman V sale (Heritage Auctions, November 2014, lot 3030).

 
Vermont coppers paste-up plate

 
As published in the Centennial Publication

Link to Vermont coppers paste-up plate:
https://archive.org/details/Epn0930-1958pasteupphotopl

Link to Centennial Publication of the American Numismatic Society:
https://archive.org/details/centennialpublic1958edit

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web