1783 (ca. 1820) Military Bust Copper. Musante GW-109, Baker-4A, Vlack 1A-A, W-10160. Rarity-2 (for t

1783 (ca. 1820) Military Bust Copper. Musante GW-109, Baker-4A, Vlack 1A-A, W-10160. Rarity-2 (for type). Small Military Bust. Plain Edge. AU-55 BN (NGC).，From the scarcer of the two known die marriages of this type, this is a superior quality example with very strong eye appeal. Both sides exhibit light rose-brown patina with warmer steel gray highlights in the protected areas around many of the peripheral devices. The striking detail is uniformly sharp, and there is only trivial wear. Free of sizable blemishes, some wispy hairlines are mentioned solely for accuracy. Although scarcer than its Large Military Bust counterpart, the Plain Edge variant of the Small Military Bust is readily available in all but the finest circulated and Mint Sate grades. The vast majority of survivors are from the Vlack 1-A die pairing, however. Vlack 1A-A was first reported in New Netherlands 60th Sale of December 1968, lot 473. The current example is the first of the variety that we can recall handling, and its offering in this sale represents an important bidding opportunity for advanced Washingtoniana collectors.<p>A loupe readily reveals the primary diagnostic of this variety: an irregular die break in the right obverse field from the second letter E in INDEPENDENCE to the bottom corner of the lower bow that binds Washingtons hair.，Ex Winslet Collection.，