I've never looked before but EVERY 1882 has a repunched H so it wouldn't surprise me for '81 as well. I think that they had to do it when the punch that made the working dies chipped/broke and they had to repunch it. If it happened late in '81 then maybe some were repunched that way before they started with the '82's.
I finally took at look at a small pile of 1881's (about 20) and found numerous what appeared to be repunched H's, especially with the bottom leg serifs touching and nearly one long line.
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