Is This Single Serif A 'Normal' For The 1882-H Penny?

I've seen these before .. I always put it off as a plugged die. It would help to see the whole coin. I have thousands of Vicky large cents and probably have examples of the same obverse (same working die), both with and without the indication of a plugged die. At last count, I think that I had about 400 1882's ... there are 1's, 1a's, 1/1a's, 2/1a's and 2's with the first 3 having examples with both full and single serif'd N's.

I'd go with Dan on this ..yes, the punches that made the working dies gradually broke off the weakest (thinnest) parts of the punch during those years. Other years show the same thing on different parts of the legends/designs as well .. the vines/stems of the 1858 & 1859's, the 88-92 N's in Regina, parts of the lettering in the 1876's and other misc other spots in other years. However, plugged dies show up all the time and are present for who knows how many coins until cleared. When it is the punch involved, you can usually see residual indications of the partially broken design on higher grade coins. Once the coins are worn, it gets tougher to see what the cause really is on a specific coin, unless you track the coin down to an individual working die.