Lot 166
1846 N-21 R6. PCGS graded Proof 64 Brown. Glossy steel brown with traces of frosty light steel brown faded down from mint color in protected areas. The fields are reflective with shallow to moderately deep mirrors, deepest on the obverse. Those fields are covered with very fine die polishing lines and display many of the very tiny struck-through lint marks characteristic of proof strikes. The rims are squared and the strike is sharp with full radials in all the stars except for #1. There is strong strike doubling on the reverse from die bounce. The notable defects are a small carbon spot below the IT in UNITED and another hidden between the leaf and berry left of the O in ONE. Very early die state (VEDS), die state a. The die cracks through the date and most stars are faint. Called Proof-60+ by Denis Loring and Proof-61 by Del Bland. Walter Breen also called this piece a proof, one of only two listed in his proof census for N-21. Our grade is MS62+ Prooflike, CC#2 in the Grellman census. In Grellman’s opinion there are no true proof strikes of this variety, although the piece offered here comes the closest in his opinion. Obviously this is another one that is subject to debate. But we can all agree this is a sharp, especially attractive example of a very rare variety. And it comes with a nice provenance. The Dan Holmes provenance is noted on the PCGS label. PCGS population 1; the only Proof example of the variety graded by PCGS. DWH #1861 (PCGS # 502707) .
Estimated Value $6,000-UP.
Ex Thomas L. Elder 6/6/1911:1361-Hillyer Ryder, New Netherlands Coin Co 9/26/1953:924-Floyd T. Starr, Stack's 6/13/84:497-Heritage 5/90:608-Denis Loring-R. S. Brown, Jr. 4/17/99.
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| Realized $20,125 |
