Deep olive brown on both sides supports vivid orange outlines to most of the devices; the date and legends are almost fully surrounded by red. Small areas of deeper patina may be seen at stars 1 and 6. What Dr. Sheldon described as a "needle point nick on [the] jaw" in our 1954 Anderson Dupont catalog appears to be a natural flake and as made, though it remains a useful identification point. No other flaws are apparent, and the satiny surfaces show pleasing luster throughout.Some very light peripheral flowlines emerge in this state, Grellmans Die State-c, having eliminated some artifacts of the earliest state. However, recutting on all of the date digits remains visible and is particularly sharp on the 1 and 6. Tiny rim cuds are seen over stars 10 and 11 and strong vertical lines extend down through ES of STATES on the reverse.This is the second finest known of the variety, having been ranked as such by both Noyes and Grellman behind another coin with considerably more original color. PCGS data includes records of a dozen different Newcomb varieties, all making up the Small Date type. However, only two records for the N-5 are graded at this level with none finer.
