Many collectors here have discussed the "doubling" or outlines seen around devices on
Indian Head cents.
It's often mistaken for a doubled die, although it looks quite different than real doubled dies.
Longacre doubling
Doubled die (1887 Snow-1):
Rick Snow has just published an article showing an
IHC trial strike involving an undated 1859 type
IHC hub and a planchet. The result is a piece which clearly shows the features on a hub. This is perhaps the clearest explanation of what causes "Longacre outlines". Rick Snow writes "notice how the field is sculpted away from the letters and devices without getting too close to the letters and devices themselves. This is where the outlines are formed". Elsewhere, Rick Snow has written the outlines vary between dies, depending on how deeply the die was hubbed, and how much the fields were polished before striking coins.
For educational purposes, I have used the photo from Rick Snow's article, then reversed and colorized to help visualize what the hub might look like. Compare the "Longacre outlines" in the first photo to the simulated hub below.
Click to enlarge
Posted 01/23/2012 10:00 pm
