The Last 1811/10 O-101 Struck! Now We Know Why The 1811/10 O-102 Obv Looks Weird

Description

Ever wonder why the 1811/10 O-102 obverse die, although the same die as the O-101 before it, looks hardly anything like it? The O-102 obverse die was ground-down to within an inch of its life. Now we know why:
Here we have a nice and original 1811/10 O-101 Terminal Die State with a cud at Stars 12-13, enveloping the 13's "Notched" outermost point. This used be in a well-respected TPG holder; the number is available. The label, though, mentions nothing about the volley of strike-throughs that plagued the reverse (and were like a bad cold on the obverse, so to speak...) so we will start there. Our guess is that the die's housing started to crumble, as impressions of pieces of what are the strike-throughs are found on both the obverse and reverse. There is also a piece of wire still stuck in the rightmost part of the strike-through between F & A on the reverse. A brad-shaped piece, the impression seen at the reverse edge at the M, exploded the edge and popped the dentil coil on the obverse, which was imprinted on the coin from Star 12 to beyond Star 13 and over the rim. Now, I'll interject here that we discovered the Unique Terminal Die State of the 1828 12 Star Half Cent, known as Manley die state 2.0. (even the author of a new book on the series didn't know about this one). The similarities between the two Terminal states are evident. There isn't another one; there probably couldn't be. The edge is perfect with no damage. The lettering is jumbled, with a canal-like gully seen for a stretch. The die state is real, and 100% Guaranteed! Shipping: .50
Now, for the grinding of what will be the O-102 obverse die: we know that it wasn't to remove the spike seen at the top of the cap-it's still there! What isn't there are close lips, attached forelock, fat Stars 12-13, most of the bridge of the nose, etc ...