One change little noticed then or now, was the removal of the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM from above the eagle on the reverse. — R.W. JulianFor the Browning-5 die marriage, this is the single finest example known in any finish, an exquisitely struck Proof, finely preserved and beautifully toned. Pale blue encircles both sides, framing delicate peach and gold that yields to nearly brilliant centers. The strike quality is nearly unimproveable, as individual strokes of the graver are visible within the central devices, each star but star 1 shows a full center, and the design elements stand out in shelf-like relief from the deeply mirrored fields that surround them. The denticles show clear double impressions, though other design elements do not, suggestive of the way a screw press could have been torqued, and torqued again, to achieve a strike such as this. The cameo contrast is strong, and the aesthetic impact is thrilling. An area of ancient and stable haze surrounds star 4, and a similar but smaller area is noted behind the eagles head. A shallow inborn planchet striation is present in the left obverse field parallel to star 10, and with some looking the merest traces of adjustment marks can be found at the extreme periphery of the reverse, just inside the end of the denticles. No contact marks are seen, only a few trivial wispy lines.Just five Proofs are identified from these dies, of which this is ranked in the first spot on the Rea-Koenings-Haroutunian census. A single piece missed by them is ranked higher by PCGS, a Proof-67 CAM sold in January 2014 after having been off the market since Auction 79. This is the only die pair from which Proof strikes are confirmed. Breen notes that Mint Director Samuel Moore sent 20 specimens to President Jackson ... and 20 more to Treasury Secretary S.D. Ingham, doubtless to show off the new redesign of the denomination. Given the numbers involved, it is doubtful that all were Proofs, but some of them may have been. Andrew Jackson is known to have had an interest in numismatics, carefully preserving an 1836 Gobrecht dollar that was given him and using coins as both diplomatic and personal gifts.This Proof would have been a purposeful and official way to showcase this new design. R.W. Julian has related that Mint Director Samuel Moore felt the motto E Pluribus Unum was simply a clever repetition of United States of America, deemed it duplicative, and had it removed from the new design. This design included fine reeding imbued by a new collar, a mechanical labor-saver that with the obverse and reverse dies accomplished all three sides of the coin in a single stroke. A Proof like this was therefore a showpiece of both artistic and technological advances, evidence of progress while the second Philadelphia Mint was still under construction, and a suggestion of the finer coins that lay ahead.Described in the Norweb catalog as a superb specimen which certainly ranks as one of the finest of its kind, this remains an exceptionally preserved and especially historic rarity today.
