Since the owner of the coin has reposted on another site, I'll put my answer here and add more pertinent info. The 1881's and 82 Obv 1's (that this is) used dies from the 1876's and the Mint just repunched over the areas of the die that had broken strikes from the submatrix. If you are old enough to remember typewriters and the typewriter keys, then you see that the letters are all raised to transfer the letter through the ribbon and make the mark. The submatrix is just like the typewriter keys (raised) and is used to strike the dies that were used. Since the actual submatrices were from 1876, many letters, or part of the design, chipped or broke off, with the result what you posted. The mint just handpunched letters over the deficient die and then started striking coins. To initially strike new dies from the submatrix, it may have taken 2-3 hard compressions and they were not always exactly on top of each other. As such, these 1882's are VERY common and it could be 1, 2, 3, or 10 letters involved. They are not scarce and pretty common and are worth little more than a normal 82. Sorry, you didn't strike the mother load.
Edited by okiecoiner
07/16/2024 07:23 am