Photo Denom Date Grade TPG Variety GFRC Rating Price Description Buy
Seated 10C 1841O Seated 10C 1841-O
 Genuine PCGS
15036924 		TOP #20
F-102
 Market Acceptable $14500 Transitional Small O Closed Bud Reverse, Rare AU Grade, Gerry Forting Top 100 Varieties Collection . Greer 101, Discovered after Ahwash published his Encyclopedia. Transitional Small O Closed Bud Reverse. Struck in early 1841 at the New Orleans mint with a left over Closed Bud reverse die from 1840 due to lack of die shipment of the new Open Bud reverse design. Greer indicates that "transitional Large and Small O dimes were struck from leftover 1840-O reverse dies most likely before the arrival of the first reverse dies of 1841 Open Bud which were delivered on Apri 7, 1841. Mint records for 1841 show 160,000 dimes were delivered from New Orleans prior to April of that year. I believe that these were deliveries included the Closed Bud 1841-O dimes, as well as many dated 1840-O. The extreme rarity of both closed bud varieties indicates a very small mintage." Collectors have been attempting for years to cherrypick examples due to substantial premiums in all grades. I consider both the Large and Small O Transitional Closed Bud dimes to be key entries in the Top 100 Liberty Seated Dime Variety set. Small O Closed Bud dimes are more difficult to locate in EF or better with few known in AU and none in mint state. Most will be found with problems due to lengthy time in circulation. This example grades a full AU but has probably seen an old obverse wipe many years ago. The obverse is toned a light golden gray with deeper coloring across Liberty and the right field. The reverse is toned a uniform gun metal gray. Device details are crisp on the reverse allowing for an understanding of the Small O reverse die preservation state (die used to strike 1840-O F-107 dimes) in early 1841. The obverse has strike weakness at the gown line, head and stars 7 and 8. Housed in older blue label PCGS holder with standard ring insert and assigned a Genuine designation. The PCGS label reads, "Transitional Rev Sm O Sm Lett, FS-901". I get the Small O labeling by PCGS but not the Small Letters. Regardless of the PCGS Genuine designation, this is one of the finest 1841-O Small O Closed Buds extant and indicative of how rare a certifiable example actually is. A very special offering for the advanced collector who desires the finest numismatic properties.