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Message:: [QUOTE="johnmilton, post: 26820019, member: 101855"]How about the very first dime die pair? The experts thin that the 1796 Dime with the cud to the left of the date was the first die pair the mint used. [ATTACH=full]1711594[/ATTACH] I bought this from a Boston Bid Wall in the mid 1980s. The owner, who could have a macabre sense of humor, opened it $1,250 because one of his father’s customers had purchased it from his father in the 1940s for $125. The customer’s name was “Jimmy Stiff” … "Now he is one." I paid something over that. I had graded this piece EF-45, but when I sent it to PCGS, I had a pleasant surprise when they graded it AU-50. The 1797, 16 Star Dime is rated as a Rarity-4 variety. The range is 76 to 200 known. There are some R-4's which I think are more common, but this one qualifies in my opinion. I have not seen that many examples of this piece in my 60+ years of collecting. I had one years ago which I sold when I upgraded the type coin in my set with the 1796 shown above. I got "bit by the bug" when I saw another one in an action. I didn't get it, but I did buy it from the dealer who did. I probably paid too much, but you seldom see this coin in any condition. It's graded VF-25. The one I had 40 years ago also had VF sharpness, but some people thought that it had been repaired. [ATTACH=full]1711596[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]