A simply magnificent coin which we doubt could be bettered. — David Proskey, 1890Far and away the finest known specimen of this date and, by extension, this variety, a die pair singled out as being excessively rare in Mint State in the JR book. A numismatic playground under magnification, this dime lets a viewer feast upon luster and fresh surfaces, die cracks big and small, die clashes and impressive fine details. The surfaces are mostly brilliant, surrounded by a blush of peach and gold inside the rims. Considering all the die breaks and the widely varying topography of the obverse die, its a wonder this coin is as finely detailed as it is. There is just a small, localized area of softness at the central obverse and the juncture of the eagles wing to the left side of the shield, but the detail is bold in 11 of 13 stars as well as the absolute central reverse. No serious marks are seen, just some trivial hairlines and a short abrasion under IT of UNITED. The die cracks are impressive on both sides: a very fine crack from near star 4 through the ribbon that arcs through Libertys chin to star 13, a large arc from atop star 4 to the right side of 3 in the date (reminiscent of the die crack found on the 1803 S-261 cent), and two cracks below star 1 that meet at the lowest curl then bisect the 0 of the date, splitting it asunder like a broken mirror. The reverse cracks are daintier, including one on either side of I of UNITED that meet the wing at left and another that crosses the wing at right between the end points of star 13 and the M of AMERICA. The JR book describes these cracks and the comorbidity of an uneven strike, mentioning the obverse strike is generally uneven, with weakness at top and that the reverse motto [is] weak except on highest grade coins; breast feathers are weak on all specimens. The obverse is well defined at top here, the motto is complete, and the breast feathers are present and relatively well detailed. This standout specimen must be described, in one word, as exceptional.Singled out by the authors of the JR book as the finest seen JR-3, Ed Prices research found that this was one of just two 1803 dimes of any die variety to have survived in Mint State, calling the other coin a stretch MS-61. The cataloger of Lester Merkins April 1966 sale, Walter Breen, said an 1803 dime in this condition [i.e. cleaned EF-AU] is unlikely to be bettered; we have only one record of a truly Mint State piece (the Parmelee-Atwater-Bareford coin). There is no other example of this date graded higher than AU-58 by PCGS or NGC; the MS-64 on the NGC Census is this coin. In the legendary Parmelee sale of 1890, cataloger David Proskey called this piece a simply magnificent coin which we doubt could be bettered. A century and a quarter later, his doubt has been confirmed.Parmelee may have acquired this piece from Ed Cogans December 1878 sale of the James E. Root Collection, lot 695, an 1803 dime described as An unusually fine impression. Cracked die. Very desirable. That lot sold to Parmelee for $9. A few lots previous, Roots 1797, called very beautiful and Uncirculated, and I think the finest I have seen, sold for a stunning $40. We wonder if that coin could be one of the two 1797 dimes in the Pogue Collection sale, both choice Mint State; the 1797 16 Star dime is also pedigreed to Parmelee.
