Montana Indian Variety MIRD-2

Images courtesy of Worthpoint

Pick-Up Points

Two rays point to the second A in PLATA.

Rarity 8
Diameter: 14.5mm
Equivalents: Burnie-M-1 (page 78), Bruce-Montana-X#Tn3, Locke (2001) 4th of four depicted.

An extremely rare die variety. I know of one certified example, graded MS62 by NGC with certification ID 2359775-001.
This variety is discussed in the January 1999 issue of the Brasher Bulletin, in Jay Roe's article Zerbe's Panama-Pacific Gold Token Patterns.

Roe calls the variety an "obviously unused pattern ... the difference in size is quite noticeable and suggests that it might be a TWO." Roe refers to a larger denomination than One, since the 14.5mm diameter for MIRD-2 surpasses the 12.5mm diameter for MIRD-1.

Roe gives the pedigree for the discovery piece of MIRD-2 as lot 887 in the Auction '82 catalog. But lot 887 from that auction is a Federal gold dollar. Lot 886 is an example of MIRQ-1.