Obverse-2 (used for the B-3 die marriage) was prepared first, utilizing a medium sized zero punch and a tall 1 with a short top serif. — Steve M. TompkinsThis may be the single finest known specimen, further graced with both superb aesthetics and the finest conceivable provenance. Rich autumnal gold and amber embrace the stars around the obverse, framing the opalescent deep gray of the center. The reverse is more blended, kissed with each of those tones in addition to the palest chalk blue. The cartwheel luster is forceful and beautiful. Cracked through the first two date digits and all stars at the left side of the obverse, the strike is meticulous nonetheless, crisp in every peripheral and central detail. Time spent in scrutiny, searching for notable defects, is time wasted.The Medium 0 terminology was first used in Steve Tompkins book Early United States Quarters 1796-1838, published in 2008, and was adopted by PCGS within the last two years. The distinctive Browning-3 variety is the only one to use the Medium 0 obverse. According to Tompkins, based upon a star punch that was undamaged when used to make this obverse but became damaged before its use on the obverse of Browning-1 and Browning-2, this was the first obverse of 1820 to be made by the engraving department at the Philadelphia Mint. As few as a half dozen Mint State examples are known from these dies, including only three graded by PCGS, two in MS-66 (one certified as a Large 0) and another in MS-64. This specimen is ranked atop the Rea-Koenings-Haroutunian census, neither tied nor bested. In the 1997 Eliasberg catalog, this piece was described as an extremely pleasing early quarter destined to find its way into another world-class collection. That commentary was prescient, and with the sale of the D. Brent Pogue Collection the same opportunity arises again.
