Another 1881-H Find

In most cases that you see these "gone or almost not there" sections of the design, it was because a portion of the hub chipped off or broke away. Almost every date will have some of them, usually late in the production run for that year/Obverse. Once the hub (the punch that actually presses and makes the working dies) chips or a small section breaks off, every working die made thereafter will show the flaw ... sometimes increasing in length and severity as time goes on. Don't confuse a chipped hub with a plugged or filled die .. they normally look different.

If you want to see the progression, just look at the 1858's & 9's on the Reverse. The hub that was used for them broke off part of the vine at 13, then started a small vine chip/break at 7, with the one at 7 greadually lengthening as time wore on. Then a break started at leaf 2, again changing it's characteristics. The hub or punch is like an old typewriter key with the letter in relief (raised) a piece breaks off and there is no way to repair it without making a new punch, staring with the master master. You can handpunch or re-engrave a working die so that it looks passable, but the hub will forever be broken.