 1850 N.11. Proof-60+. Rarity-7 as Proof. Iridescent blue-brown obverse hosts hints of original mint color, while the reverse is largely red with a vertical band of blue-brown down the middle of the reverse. Strike is bold, crisp and full and the fields are fully reflective, as should be expected of an unequivocal Proof coin. The reverse is essentially of Gem quality, with only a small carbon spot at the branch end, while the obverse hosts a batch of heartbreaking corrosion spots concentrated around the truncation of the bust. Proof Large Cents are rare in general, and only two varieties, Newcomb 9 and 11, are known in Proof for 1850. Breen in his Proof coin encyclopedia lists three of the former and five or six of the latter variety. This specimen might add a new example to the Census or it might be one of the coins listed by Breen.
Only one Proof example of N.11 has been sold recently, the Gem Pittman coin that reappeared in a Bowers and Merena sale in 2004. Here is a wonderful example whose acquisition would represent a coup for the Large Cent collector or for the enthusiast of early Proof coins.
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