Lot 551
1851/81 N-3 R1. PCGS graded MS-65 Red & Brown. Beautiful frosty mint red fading to steel brown, about 50% of the mint color remaining intact on the obverse and 85% on the reverse. Sharply struck and very attractive. The only marks, and they are trivial, are traces of an old fingerprint in the field above the head, a couple very tiny nicks on the rim over stars 6 & 7, a tiny planchet flake in the field under star 10 (as struck), and microscopic specks of darker steel brown toning scattered over the reverse (visible only with the aid of a strong glass). Struck from the highly desirable early state of these dies, Grellman state a, showing bold repunching on the date creating what we call the 51 over 81 overdate. Actually the date was punched into the die inverted, then corrected. The field around the date is covered with coarse die lines where a mint worker attempted (but failed) to efface the error. The inverted 18 shows clearly under the 51 of the normal date. In addition, on this early die state you can see traces of the inverted 51 under the 18 of the normal date. This evidence proves the entire date was inverted, then corrected. A premium example of this popular "Redbook" variety. Our grade is MS64, tied for CC#4 honors in the Grellman census.
Estimated Value $2,000-UP.
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