Beautiful olive brown and steel at the centers changes to faded red toward the rims. No serious marks are seen, but a couple very trivial ones can be detected with magnification if one studies long enough. A few tiny dark flecks are seen scattered on both sides.The early die state of the dies has lent it particularly strong aesthetic appeal. The obverse is somewhat prooflike in the fields in this state, Grellmans State-a, and all of the design elements are sharply defined. The rims are high and full. Strong repunching is seen on the first two digits of the date. Fine die lines are visible over ERI on the reverse, which has not yet formed the die breaks that appear in later states.We called this coin "perhaps the finest known" of this scarce variety when we last sold it in 1984. That description remains true, as Grellman ranked it first in his census and Noyes listed it alongside one other as finest known. This superb piece bears a provenance back to Howard Newcomb, whose late dates were purchased intact by Floyd Starr with a "spoiler bid" at the conclusion of the Newcomb sale, which disappointed those present but succeeded in keeping Newcombs remarkable late date cents together.
