1853/1853 Liberty Seated Dime (F-107), Finest Known

I figured it's time to share this beauty I purchased since it'll no longer be mine soon. A few months ago, I cherry-picked the 1853 Liberty Seated dime pictured below at auction, graded MS-65 by NGC. It's the nice F-107 variety (also known as the FS-301) in which the entire date is strongly repunched to the east.





For inclusion in the Top 100 variety set, an F-107 needs to be an early die state, where all secondary digits are still strongly displayed and the reverse die cracks are not yet prominent. On this example, the two die cracks from STA(T)ES and A(M)ERICA to the rim are but mere whispers. This coin is a very early die state which is characterized by a die lump on the right arrow (which quickly wore away), the die defects around the first 6 stars and faint parallel die lines, slanted slightly downward, pervading the whole obverse.

Overall, the F-107 is a very scarce variety (around an R4+), with most examples being lower grades. To the best of my knowledge, this is the single finest known example of the 1853/1853 RPD, and by a large margin. In fact, I could only locate one other uncirculated example, which is the MS details one in the Fortin collection. (But if anyone knows of any other uncirculated examples, please do let me know!)

This coin is currently on its way to PCGS for crossover and variety attribution; in my opinion it's a toss-up whether it will be downgraded to an MS-64 or hold at MS-65.

I've already agreed for it to be consigned to auction as soon as it's back, mainly because my current variety collecting interests lie in other series. But I hope that there are some Liberty Seated dime enthusiasts here who would appreciate it!