1818 25C MS(PCGS#5322)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

4256

等级

XF40

价格

14,567

详细说明

Tompkins Die Stage 2/4, Rea et al. Die State a. Dusky steel and pewter gray surfaces are a bit rough in texture. Lightly struck at the base of Liberty's bust and the eagle's beak, but boldly defined elsewhere in the context of the assigned grade.<p>The Browning-9 is the rarest attribution of the 1818-dated quarter issue. It features the second of three uses of this obverse, readily identifiable by a die line from the innermost point of star 2. The reverse die is shared with the 1818 B-7 variety. Survivors of the 1818 B-9 are usually found in lower grades, and the most elusive are those of the middle die state, as here, with clashed arrowheads (CAH) in the obverse field above Liberty's cap. Closer inspection with a loupe also reveals equally bold clashmarks from the 25 C. denomination at the upper obverse border. Interestingly, several of the finest known examples represent this die state, including that offered here, which is ranked CC#5 in the 2008 Tompkins census and tied for CC#6 in the 2010 Rea et al. census.<p><strong>Steve M. Tompkins Commentary:</strong> What some collectors may not know is that the clashed arrowheads above and behind the cap are found on all three die marriages that were struck utilizing this obverse die. They are most prevalent on the B-9, but can be found on both B-8 and B-10. However, in each of these marriages the clash is a completely different clash in a different position. This tells us that Mint employees took the obverse die out of the press multiple times to lap away these clashmarks before being reinstalling it to strike more coins. Assembling a set that shows the progression of the clashmarks, lapping and die cracks would be a very challenging endeavor.