The 1983 1 cent variety issue is a bit complicated.
There are different dies and there are visual effects created by various factors (mostly the rim width and slope-ness and the state of die which affects beads size).
The coins on the above picture are of the same Far Beads die variety but one looks "Near" because of the wider rim.
One easy way to differentiate the Near and Far dies is to measure the diameter of the obverse beads ring - 16.4 and 16.0 mm correspondingly.
The 0.4 mm difference is measurable with a basic ruler.
Please note that PL and Specimen coins have 16.0 mm ring which makes them Far Beads, but visually they appear Near Beads because of the wide ring.
The variety name is confusing. I think visual effects and the rim width to not count as a variety.
Otherwise we would need to count two 1983 1 cent *reverse* varieties as well - same Far and Near beads.
But in all coins I checked the reverse difference is always attributed to the rim width.
Posted 06/28/2020 12:02 am
