1853/2 Liberty Head Double Eagle. FS-301. AU-53 (PCGS). Thoroughly appealing golden-honey surfaces sport uncommon originality in an early date Type I Liberty Head double eagle offered in todays market. Direct lighting calls forth not only ample mint luster, but also glints of vivid pinkish-rose iridescence. Sharply to fully defined throughout with the diagnostics of this popular variety readily evident with the aid of a loupe. Also an intriguing variety by any measure, the 1853/2 double eagle has both fascinated and perplexed numismatists for years. The variety was discovered around 1959 and was popularized by Walter Breen, who later carried it as an overdate in his <em>Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins</em>. The variety is listed as a clear overdate in Bill Fivazs and J.T. Stantons <em>Cherrypickers Guide</em> and has been considered the only overdate in the entire Liberty Head double eagle series. Other scholars, however, are not so certain of its status as an overdate since the artifact within the 3 does not closely resemble that of a 2. Only the one obverse die is known for the 1853/2 variety, which is also distinguished in its later die states by a distinctive die chip under the right foot of the letter R in LIBERTY (which is noted as die rust in some references) as well as a repaired crossbar in the letter A in STATES. This variety is typically encountered in lower grades, with AU examples remarkably scarce. The very finest known examples grade just MS-61 or MS-62, emphasizing the importance of the present premium AU example to advanced collectors of Liberty Head gold.
