Owner Comments:
S-3852D, Marsh 43A (R3, Extremely Rare)
Acquired from: London Coins, Longfield, UK
Means: Auction 178, Lot 1730
Date: 4 September 2022
Critique: Purchased this raw, ungraded coin based on a very low resolution image from this online auction. Claimed to be in British NEF/EF condition, which translates to AU55/AU58 on the Sheldon scale. When I submitted to NGC, the coin came back AU55, so can't complain!
As described on the new holder, this is the variety of 1860 having the letter E in DEI re-punched over an E that was originally punched way too high. Most of that errant letter was eventually polished away, however the portion underlying the new E remains. As mentioned in the auction description, this particular error is more commonly seen on the 1861 coin.
There is also clear evidence of the numeral 1 in the date re-punched over a smaller 1. And on the reverse, it looks very much like the letter F in DEF was re-punched over some other letter, possibly a smaller F. Neither of these errors has ever been reported for an 1860 sovereign.