1873 OC-3

Die Pair 2 - B
Date Grid JR of C / 4-5.0 / Level
Obverse Die States a
Estimated Rarity R6
1, 3 Vertical SH, SH
Reverse Die States a, b



Comments:
   This is the first and only use of Obverse 2 and the third of five uses of Reverse B (including 2 re-marriages).


Obverse 2

The photo below shows the Obverse 2 attribution grid.



1873 Obverse 2 attribution grid


The Obverse 2 date is the farthest left of any for the year, and Obverse 2 is the only 1873 obverse die that is almost completely finished under the chin.


Obverse 2 Die States
  1. Perfect die.
No later die states have been observed. However, this is a rare die pair. We’ve seen only pictures in the Heritage archives. Later die states possibly exist.


Reverse B

Reverse B can be quickly identified by the presence of several small lumps around GOD in the motto. The easiest to see is the large lump just right of and above the serif of G. These are indicated by the arrows on the following photo.



1873 Reverse B lumps near G in GOD


Reverse B Die States
  1. Perfect die.
  2. The right end of the scroll has lost detail due to die polishing.
No later die states have been observed. We’ve only seen 2 examples of the OC-3 die marriage, both in the Heritage archives. Heritage hasn’t sold an example since the June, 2014 Long Beach sale. This is truly a rare die marriage.



Photo credits:

Obverse 2:   1873 NGC Mint State cleaned, from the Heritage archives.
Reverse B:   1873 ANACS AU58, from the Osburn-Cushing reference collection.


Copyright © 2015-2021, by Dick Osburn and Brian Cushing, All rights reserved.