1857 Flying Eagle Cent Snow 3 / FS-105

You may recall, a couple of months ago I posted some pictures of an 1857 Flying Eagle cent Snow 4/FS-101. Well, I was at my local coin shop the other day and I found an 1857 Snow 15 (another DDO for this date but with a much smaller spread...I will post pictures of it someday soon). Anyway, I showed the coin to the dealer and mentioned that it had some minor hub doubling. He took out his 5X loupe and looked it over. Then he put it down, walked into the back, and brought out this coin pictured below. He said, "this one has more eye appeal and it's only $3 more". He knew it was a stronger doubled die and a higher grade coin. I said, "I'll take them both".

At the moment, I thought I had just purchased another (higher grade) copy of a Snow 4/FS-101. However, when I got home and studied it under my microscope, I began to see think it might be a Snow 3/FS-105. The two dies are considerably similar! All the references I could find on both dies referenced the differences in the wing tips of the two dies and light die scratches. However, due to the grade of each coin, those identifying markers were not distinguishable. But after some detailed analysis I came to the solid conclusion that my new purchase was Snow 3/FS-105.

I am currently working on a comparison photo study of these two dies using my examples to help attribute them in the future. I can post it in here when I finish it - if any of you will find it useful.
Thanks for reading and looking!