This is such a sweet little gem of a coin. I absolutely love the luster this one has and can definitely say I am pleased with this purchase. This is the type 1 version (1851-1853) of the coin, and the design was by James Barton Longacre, the Mint’s chief engraver at this time. This one is a higher graded piece surviving from a mintage in Philadelphia of 5,446,400. Not only was this design different from later versions, but the silver content of each coin was less than the later types, only having 75% silver, thus also having a value then of 2-1/2 cents. This was because the mint was trying to discourage the immediate melting of these for the silver value, especially since they were issued to help address the silver shortage (lots of hoarding of silver coins at this time, many which were sold for their silver content and shipped as bullion to Europe for their coinage) and to allow easy purchase of three cent stamps. The three cent piece during this time saw heavy use. They were not only called three cent pieces, but also trimes and 'fish scales'. The fish scales name was because not only were they small (likened to the size of a fish scale) but they also tended to tarnish easy since they were of a more debased material than the fineness in the normal silver coinage. Almost all were business strikes, with PCGS saying only about 5 proof coins are known for 1851, but Coinweek dot com saying 10. Of the mintage of 5,446,400 in Philadelphia that year (a smaller number were minted in 1851 in New Orleans). This year also has two varieties from the Philadelphia mintage with a repunched date - 18/18, and 1851/851 (FS-301 and FS-302). Of the main Philly trimes, PCGS has a bit under 2000 listed for the population, and NGC has under a thousand. It is interesting to note that the majority of these in the population reports do fall within the mint state range of MS60-MS67, so the coins do remain affordable for many as long as you are not going for a 1851-O or one of the ones minted from 1863 on. PCGS MS65.
Ghosting or Progressive Indirect Design Transfer. Not a true clash. See comment below by @physics-fan3.14
Fantastic coin! Love the bright luster on it. While it is possible it is clashed, it is more likely you're seeing a "ghosting" effect. The technical term here is "progressive indirect die transfer" and is incredibly common on thin coins like this. You can read more about it here: http://www.error-ref.com/progressive-indirect-design-transfer/
Thanks, I forgot the term.... Was thinking 'shadowing' but now that you've reminded me... That is really what it is... So going to edit my comment.
