1799 $10 Small Stars Obverse MS(PCGS#98562)

Spring 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

3158

等级

MS62

价格

370,432

详细说明

This is one of the finest specimens from these dies that we have offered in recent memory, surpassing even the incredible AU-55 (PCGS) from our August 2019 sale of the Taraszka Collection. The strike is remarkable and offers superior definition to Liberty's hair and the eagle's plumage. Gleaming reflectivity in the fields emphasizes the rich, frosty texture that blankets the devices. While there are wispy hairlines and other minor handling marks in the delicate fields to help define the MS-62 grade from PCGS, the astute numismatist aided by a loupe will discern fine die polish lines that further confirm the somewhat earlier die state of this piece. The dominant yellow-gold hue is accented by deeper honey shades that come into view as the coin rotates away from direct lighting. Attractive and impressively well composed for this grade level. BD Die State b/e.<p>This variety represents the first of three uses of this obverse die, and the fourth and final use of this reverse die. On the obverse, the digits 17 in the date are close and the second 9 is slightly higher than the first. Stars 2, 3 and 4 are lightly repunched, star 8 presents two points to the back of Liberty's cap, star 9 lightly touches the letter Y in LIBERTY below the right serif, and star 13 is relatively distant from the end of Liberty's bust. On the reverse, the lowermost arrow head is under the extreme left edge of the letter N in UNITED, a leaf tip just touches the center of the letter I in UNITED, the lowermost berry is centered under the final letter A in AMERICA, and there are small die rust lumps between the letters UN in UNITED and within the top of the N. The faint, jagged die line that bisects the letter O in OF on coins struck from earlier states of this reverse is no longer present in the BD-4 pairing.<p>After producing more than 5,250 coins (per Dannreuther) while paired with four different obverses, the reverse die of 1799 BD-4 was finally withdrawn from production after this marriage. The terminal state of this die arose early in the 1799 BD-4 press run, explaining the small number of examples struck and, consequently, the rarity of this variety. Whether this reverse suffered some kind of catastrophic failure that would be attributed as Die State f, or whether Mint employees considered the expanding cracks of Die State e sufficient to force the abandonment of this die, is unknown. To date, the only reverse die state known for the 1799 BD-4 variety is e, offered here. Additionally, there are no perfect obverse coins (Die State a) known. This is not surprising given the elusiveness of examples. Perfect obverse and/or terminal reverse examples may simply no longer exist, if they were struck in the first place.<p>This is a handsome Mint State example of this challenging early gold type and exceedingly rare die pairing. As such, it is a coin that holds tremendous appeal for advanced type collectors as well as early gold variety enthusiasts.