1797 10C 13 Stars MS(PCGS#4463)

1797 10C 13 Stars MS (PCGS#4463)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Lot Description: Offered is a highly significant example of this challenging JR number, superior for its technical quality and eye appeal. Both sides display quite bold detail, lack of all but trivial wear more than compensating for a touch of typical striking softness in and around the centers. The impression is well centered, the surfaces retaining appreciable satin luster that is strongest when viewed with direct lighting. The entire coin is dressed in a blend of pleasingly original coin gray and champagne-gold patina with subtle pink undertones evident.<p>The final date in the historic Draped Bust, Small Eagle dime series, the 1797 has an extant population of perhaps just 200 to 275 coins across two confirmed die marriages. This estimate is per Winston Zack, Louis Scuderi and Michael Sherrill in their 2015 reference <em>Bust Dime Variety Identification Guide</em>. JR-2, offered here, is readily attributable not only by the 13-star obverse count, but also the knobbed 9 in the date. It is more conditionally challenging than its JR-1 counterpart with only three (as opposed to six) examples believed extant in Mint State. Even rarer as a PCGS-certified Choice AU, the present JR-2 example is highly recommended for an advanced cabinet of early U.S. Mint silver.