Struck as sharp as a cameo. — Barney BluestoneIt is really hard to overstate the quality of this coin. — David W. AkersA coin of majestic beauty, a dime so well preserved its survival boggles the mind. Almost certainly the single finest example known of the entire design type, this piece combines shade and subtlety of toning that could have emerged from an artists palette, with a strike that would make a machinist proud. The frosty and dramatically lustrous surfaces exhibit slate gray that changes to olive green and pale blue as the cartwheel swirls past, enlivened with a center of pale lavender on the reverse. The strike allows every breast feather on the eagle to manifest and most other fine details to come to the fore. The surfaces are fresh and immaculate, showing neither hairline nor mark, as perfect under a glass as they are to a naked eye in sunlight. A crack descends from the rim and crosses ERT of LIBERTY before reaching the left top of Y; traces of die clashing are seen above the date. The reverse is rotated approximately 30 degrees clockwise, as sometimes seen in this die marriage.In the 1997 Pittman sale, David W. Akers summed this coin up in one line: This is an absolutely spectacular quality early dime that certainly has to rank as one of the finest known specimens of both the date and type. While many of the superb dimes of the D. Brent Pogue Collection will appeal to long-time enthusiasts or variety specialists, this is a coin anyone can understand: a nearly perfect coin from the administration of Thomas Jefferson, preserved in top condition since the day it was struck. A world-class type set would benefit from its addition. The cataloger (JK) prefers this coin to another MS-67 PCGS coin that graced one of the all-time great type sets, the Oliver Jung Collection, simply because the toning on this coin is so impossibly beautiful. It is hard to imagine in what way this coin could be surpassed.
