Alone atop the Condition Census.A specimen of extraordinary elegance and freshness, whose quality stands out even among the coins of the D. Brent Pogue Collection. The toning framing the obverse changes, chameleon-like, from gold to sea-green and blue as the intense cartwheel luster collects light and slides around the perimeter. The center is soft lavender and gray with hints of blue. The bright blue around the reverse also seems to collect and magnify the lustrous cartwheel, framing the pale violet and gold center. Luster defines this piece, giving it a special level of aesthetic appeal. A few natural planchet streaks are seen, a by-product of an impurity in the Mints silver ingot that became a striation when rolled; the most significant is near Libertys chin, with others parallel. No significant marks or lines are found. The strike is soft at the lowest curl, the eagles head, and the star cluster above it, but the definition in Libertys portrait and hair, the eagles wings, and other areas more than makes up for it. The large and flat stars described by Overton are mostly absent here, as every star has some central detail and most have all of it. Some delicate die cracks are seen, including one from Libertys hair near its highest wave to near the base of E and another through T of LIBERTY to Libertys forehead below. A reverse crack begins at the top of the first S in STATES, undulates along the curves of that letter, then arcs to the rim through the clouds and finally through the last S of STATES. This is the only recorded candidate for finest known honors of this major variety. The Queller Family - Gene Gardner coin, the next closest competitor, is graded MS-62 (PCGS). It is the only other example certified as Mint State by PCGS. A previous offering of this coin misinterpreted its provenance, creating a seeming challenger where there was none. The Pogue example maintains its unquestioned primacy among all examples of the Small 3 variety.
