Study Of 1914-D Die Usage Near Completion...

Many people over the years have conducted studies to find out how many 1909S VDB dies were used to strike all 480+ thousand coins minted. The number is four, although I still have my doubts. I have viewed coins and image for over 100 different mint state 1909S VDB cents, and have yet to find an example of what is reported by John Wexler as "die #1." This doesn't mean that his die #1 doesn't exist, it would simply mean that it has to be scarce if it does exist. I found a number of examples of all other three reported dies.

While going through this study (over the past year or so) I also decided to do the same for 1909S and for 1914D. There's no reason in my mind why these keys should not be more completely studied than they have been in the past.

After having been through nearly 150 different AU-BU certified 1914D cents, I have preliminarily concluded that there were five different dies that struck all known examples of this key date coin. Because the bulk of the images I used in conducting the study are copyrighted, and I must first get permission to republish them, I will not be posting images of this study anywhere until I retain such permission, but I can tell you about the five different dies here.

Die #1 is the most common of all five dies. It developed a die crack rather early in its life, and the crack progresses through the die's use. The crack extends from the lower rim beneath the coat on the obverse and runs through the vest area toward the bow tie. The mintmark is higher than center and slightly closer to the 9 than to the 1. Given the die state of the latest die state coin found in the study, I can fairly assume there were well over 300,000 of these struck.

Die #2 is less common than die #1. The mintmark sits lower than die #1 and has a noticeable rotation clockwise. Study indicates that there were somewhere around 250,000 of these struck.

Die #3 is the second most common die. The mintmark sits barely to the east of die #2 and sits perpendicular to the other devices (without rotation). I have estimated the number of coins struck by this die to be around 300,000.

Die #4 is less common than die #2, and the die state of the latest die state coin found supports this. The mintmark sits lower and to the left of the position for dies #2 and #3. Assumption is that nearly 150,000 coins were struck by this die.

Die #5 The mintmark is lower and farther to the left than die #4. This is the lowest (farthest from the date) of any of the five known dies. This one is also the most scarce. Out of nearly 150 coins recorded there was but one single example of this die recorded, and it was EMDS, indicating that fewer than 20,000 coins were struck using this die. Of course further supporting information would confirm or rebut this, but until such information is found, I will go on record by assuming this scarcity is real.

Of course die state can be altered by a number of different factors, the most common of which being that dies are annealed for hardness, which retards wear. If dies are not annealed properly, they can wear faster and crack more easily than other properly treated dies.

At any rate, the VERY rough estimates of die to die strike counts adds up to account for the 1.193 million coins struck, so I am rather satisfied that the five dies in the quantities estimated is a more or less accurate assumption.

Just thought you would like to read my findings, especially if purchasing a 1914-D is in your future. Once I get the chance to publish this information, it might be worth considering to try finding a die #5 coin for your collection. As this hobby evolves, I am sure at some point that the exact die that struck key-date coins will come into play for value. Why not get a more scarce coin now while they seem to overlook this important factor.