1803 Draped Bust Cent. S-249. Rarity-2. 1/100 Over 1/000. MS-62 BN (PCGS).A delightful example of this popular and readily attributable die marriage. The surfaces are predominantly smooth in hand with a hard, satiny texture. Blended autumn-brown and olive-copper patina dominates the coins appearance, the obverse with a few splashes of bolder reddish-gray that are most prominent at the right border. The strike is nicely centered with sharp to full detail throughout, the reverse rotated approximately 30 degrees counterclockwise from normal coin alignment. There are no marks of consequence, the aforementioned toning on the obverse serving as this coins most useful identifying feature. Noyes Die State E/B.<p>Sheldon-249 is the only variety of the 1803-dated Draped Bust cent issue with the digit 1 in the fraction punched over an erroneous 0, although this reverse die was also used in the 1801 NC-3 pairing. The obverse of S-249 is also popular with specialists as the "Mumps Obverse," a prominent die lump readily evident under Libertys jaw at the junction with the top of the neck. This sharp early die state example is within the top 12 examples in the census provided by William C. Noyes in the 2015 reference <em>United States Large Cents: 1802-1814</em>.From Pine Trees EAC 75 sale, lot 758; Pine Trees sale of October 1976, lot 222; Pine Trees sale of September 1978, lot 667; Harmer Rookes Gemini II Collection sale, September 1980, lot 70.
