1820 10C JR-2 MS(PCGS#38782)

August 2020 U.S. Coins Auction

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

1174

Grade

MS67

Price

66,000

Lot Description

Phenomenal 1820 JR-2 Dime Pop 2/0 1820 Capped Bust Dime. JR-2. Rarity-3. Small 0. MS-67 (PCGS). Outstanding and exceedingly Superb Gem quality for this early date Capped Bust dime issue. This is a bright, brilliant coin with satiny snow white surfaces. The strike is well centered, the left obverse border soft, yet with full denticulation around that side. The denticulation on the reverse is universally bold. Stars 3, 4 and 7 on the obverse lack full centrils, but all other design elements exhibit razor sharp to full detail. Expectably smooth for the assigned grade and close to pristine, a couple of faint planchet drift marks (as made) on the reverse above and below the scroll at the letters RI in PLURIBUS are the most useful provenance markers. The United States Mint produced 942,587 dimes during calendar year 1820, its most generous output for the denomination up to that point in time. Given that 1820-dated examples are relatively plentiful in numismatic circles (2,500 to 3,750 survivors in all grades, per Winston Zack, Louis Scuderi and Michael Sherrill in the 2015 reference Bust Dime Variety Identification Guide), it seems likely that most of the coins struck that year were from 1820-dated dies. JR-2 is similar in overall scarcity to most other die marriages of the date. It is more popular with specialists, however, due to its nickname as the "Office Boy" variety. The reverse of JR-2, here in its only pairing, exhibits repunching and spacing blunders to many letters in the legend, so much so that numismatists have conjectured that this die represents the work of an apprentice engraver. Repunching is boldest at the final letter S in STATES and the letter O in OF, while the letters ME in AMERICA are solidly joined. The "Office Boy" nickname was borrowed from Dr. William Sheldon, who used the term in his 1949 book Early American Centsto describe the reverse of the 1794 S-56 variety. In PCGS-certified MS-67 the present example is tied for CC#1 not only for the die marriage, but for the 1820-dated Capped Bust dime issue as a whole. There is only one other MS-67 listed at this service, also from the JR-2 dies (although apparently not designated as such on the holder), and that is the Oliver Jung specimen that realized $152,750 in Heritage's August 2014 Chicago ANA Signature Auction. (NGC has also not certified a single example of this issue finer than MS-67.) Breathtakingly beautiful and of the utmost rarity, this captivating Superb Gem looms large among the highlights in our 2020 ANA Auction event. PCGS Population (all die marriages of the Small 0 variety): 2; 0 finer. Only one of these coins is attributed as JR-2 on the PCGS insert, although the other is also from the JR-2 dies. PCGS# 38782. NGC ID: 236X. Click here for certification details from PCGS. Image with the PCGS TrueView logo is obtained from and is subject to a license agreement with Collectors Universe, Inc. and its divisions PCGS and PSA.