Nice cherrypick! It did not occur to me that this was a Small Motto coin. I don't recognize those right off the get-go- would have to look at pictures. This reminds me of the people who cherrypick dateless 1916 SLQs from certain diagnostics. There's a fella on Collectors Universe who's cherrypicked three or four from bulk silver, if I remember correctly. Even without a date, if you can get one slabbed as a 1916 SLQ, cha-ching!
Now Frank has got me second guessing myself again. One of the reasons I posted it here was because I started second guessing my diagnosis. I will know for sure when it gets here. I used to display my mistakes on my desk, to remind me to not do it again, but it got to reminding that I needed to clean off my desk and the fact that it was quite depressing. I was taught as an Engineer to stick to your guns no matter what and never second guess yourself. I had a professor say that when you start second guessing everything, it means you are getting old. I'm not ready for that.
The more you try to convince yourself the coin is the rare variety, then you will start seeing what you want to see. I think a better philosophy when it comes to cherrypicking is to try to prove that it is not what you think it is. If you cannot prove that it is not what you think, then you have it. This method has worked for me every single time, while the prior method led mostly to disappointment.
I looked at the diagnostic that you posted beforehand. When I look for this variety, the first thing I look for is the leaf over the East scroll. On the large motto it is very strong and the small, very weak, and if it is a weak strike, almost nonexistent on the small. Then from that same photo, I looked at the space between the bottom of the U and the edge of the ribbon. It seems closer on the large motto than on this coin but all of that may be skewed by the photos. The ends of the ribbon and the S on the ribbon, now lead me to think otherwise. Who knows, I have looked at so many now, I am beginning to think it's a crossbreed.
I feel you are deluding yourself by seeing what you want to see. I just looked again. The letters on the small motto take up 50% of the vertical length of the ribbon, while on the large motto, it is closer to 75%. I look at the U, and I see very little space between the ribbon and the letter, indicative of the large motto. Then I look at the I. On the coin you bought, it is clearly 75% of the length of the ribbon. Look at the D. On the small motto, the shape of the hole inside resembles a D as well. On the large motto, it resembles an enlongated oval. I see the enlongated oval on your coin. These are facts from simple observation. When I try to see a small motto variety from pictures, my go-to diagnostic is the leaf. If I can't tell from the pictures, such as in this case, I go to the D in GOD. The D is clearly that of the Large Motto. I hope for your sake you can prove me wrong.
I'm truly not trying to make it something it isn't. I may have before I bid, but not now. I have already moved on to something else It's what I do to combat complete boredom. I have made mistakes before, and I've hit some homeruns. It's 3 steps forward 2 backwards, but the rush of the taking a 4th step keeps me in the game. Thank you for your expertise, I needed more of it lastnite.
And I apologize if I sounded harsh. I was just trying to show you what I see. And yes, I have made mistakes as well, as does everyone at some point or another. But the exhilaration of that homerun makes it all worthwhile.
Well I usually use the berries on the left side of the obverse to identify the small motto. This one looks like it has the double berries so I called it small. Hope I didn't steer you wrong and you'd already made up your mind Hommer.
This Small Motto/Large Motto stuff makes my head spin, which is why I never much paid attention. It's like the 1970 Small Date/Large Date cent varieties (but those were worse- even with comparison pictures, I have a tough time seeing the difference). I guess this is why I'm not cut out to be a collector of die varieties, for the most part...