1890 Victory Cent

Nice looking coin. The masters and the primary punches for new Obv 3 1890 coins were all from the matrix ID'd as O2U in Turner's book on the 90's & 92"s. The 1890 effigy was a modified likeness from the Obv 2 used previously. The punch that was raised from the Matrix is O2U and it started to experience damage shorty after being put into use making the working dies. Of the 12 O2U working dies made, only 2 did not have damage to the N's, D's and the I in DEI. Almost all of the 10 affected had pieces/chips broken off the punches that were then transfered to the working dies as they were made. There were then attempts (some pretty sloppy) to re-engrave the areas affected so the 5 letters are fairly easy to track. Every D, N and the I in DEI looks different on each of the working dies and your photo is not magnified enough to see them clearly; likewise I can't see any die cracks.

Some have a gentle arc/dish on the upper serif, some blundered, some have a non-linear arc/dish, and some are seemingly unrepaired. Most of the working dies that were not sloppily repaired have between 1-8% of the total coins minted, but just because the I is curved doesn't make it scarce. A little over 30% of the working dies had an unrepaired I and are basically straight across. For anyone who collects large cents, Rob Turner's book on the 1890 & 1892's is well worth space in your library. It dovetails nicely with the "Dies & Diadems" book and will be even beteer when the '93-94 book comes out.

Thank you for the valuable information and Robs book is on my list of things to do.