1802 10C MS(PCGS#4472)

1802 10C MS (PCGS#4472)

November 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Lot Description: This is an uncommonly high grade example of an issue that is elusive in all grades. Overall detail is suitably bold for a Draped Bust dime that saw light circulation, and while the centers are soft, as struck, plenty of bold to sharp detail is appreciable as one's eye moves toward the peripheries. Both sides are marginally off center to 5 o'clock, a feature we have noted in at least one other survivor from these dies, but the borders are fully denticulated. The obverse is brilliant in the center with a halo of steel-olive peripheral iridescence that gives way to red, gold and blue undertones at direct viewing angles. For the reverse we note warmer patina in a blend of pewter gray and champagne-pink. A vertical cut low on Liberty's portrait and a few wispy scratches in the center of the reverse are noted for accuracy, but the in hand appearance is otherwise smooth, and pleasingly so for the assigned grade.<p>Of the four known die marriages of this issue, JR-4 is the most frequently encountered in numismatic circles, The date as a whole is scarce, however, Mint records accounting for a delivery of just 10,975 dimes during calendar year 1802. Winston Zack, Louis Scuderi and Michael Sherrill (2015) account for only 175 to 225 survivors in all grades (all die marriages), the vast majority of which are well worn. This minimally circulated, aesthetically pleasing NGC-certified Choice EF combines absolute and condition scarcity to appeal to advanced collectors.