Oct 5, 2016

Added photos of FS-304 date close-up (courtesy Bernie Turner).

March 13, 2015

Added photos of very late die stage FS-013 (discovered by John D. Call).

Added another die stage to FS-013.2 (stage where the full cud is just starting to form).

Added page of auction data for 1883/2 sales.

Added page about relative rarities and valuations. Minor cleanup of other pages to accommodate.

Changed the varieties page to indicate five generally accepted varieties instead of four generally accepted plus the F-07.

Added comments from Dennis Paulsen on the FS-013 page concerning the prominence of the underlying 2 on the late die stage.

Added rules for linking to and redistributing material from this site.

Added additional comments on the FS-013 page concerning the prominence of the underlying 2 on the late die stage.

Added comments from Alan Herbert on the FS-013 page concerning the prominence of the underlying 2 on the late die stage.

Added photo of the elusive middle die stage for FS-013.2.

Cleaned up some information on the F-07 page.

Added die stage information for FS-013.

Added additional information for F-07.

Added late die stage FS-013.1.

Added possible late die stage F-07.

Added an early die stage FS-013.2 showing most of the underlying 2.

Entirely new page added for the F-07. Other pages updated to reflect information about the F-07.

Added notes about which photos were taken with an Intel Play microscope.

Adjusted the colors on a couple of the photographs (mostly the ones that were too red).

Corrected use of die state vs. die stage. A die state refers only to how long a die has been in operation. Die states are differentiated by microscopic flow lines imparted to the die by the stress of striking coins. A die stage refers to die cracks, die breaks, gouges, cuds, or any other damage to a die (the flow lines of die states are not considered damage). Die stages may be useful for variety pick-up points, but die states are not. For example, a die that develops problems like die breaks or a cud within the first hundred strikes would still be in an early die state (because it has not been used enough to develop flow lines), but could be in a terminal die stage (because it's about to fall apart). Many thanks to Ken Hill for educating me on the difference.

Also corrected use of die crack vs. die break. A die crack is a fine line of raised metal that transfers to a coin from a hairline crack on the die. A die break is a larger fault than a die crack, and transfers to a coin as a wider (and frequently uneven width) line.

January 13, 2003

Very late die stage FS-013.2 added (with full cud overlapping rim). Deceptive die break coin masquerading as possible FS-013.1 added.

October 17, 2002

Fletcher die stage information added.

August 21, 2002

Completely reorganized, many new pictures added. Information about FS-013.3 added.

April 2, 2001

Initial version posted.

 

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