Walter Breen
Edging Blanks
1. Edge device omitted: These will be of normal weight and struck on first process blanks. The 1795 cents are called "unlettered" to avoid confusion with regular plain edge coins. (1793 Chain Variety 2, one reported, unseen. Variety 4, untraced, ex Benjamin Betts. Variety 5, one seen, ex Admiral Bitler.
1793 Wreath Variety 7, untraced, ex Carl Wurtzbach. Variety 12, one seen, Chris Victor-McCawley. Variety 13, unlocated. Variety 16, several seen. 1793 Liberty Cap Variety 20, ANS collection with 29 millimeters diameter. A second was reported by Dr. William H. Sheldon. Variety 22, G.
Kraft collection (1913), described by McGirk, untraced.
1794 Variety 8, ANS with a straight clip. Variety 13, at least one seen, whereabouts unrecorded. Variety 28, one reported, unseen. Variety 31, Dupont: 65a. Variety 60, one reported, unseen.
1795 Variety 2 or 3, (worn, reverse slick, unattributable), 187.5 grains (12.15 grams). Variety 3, one reported, 187.4 grains (12.14 grams). Variety 4a, C. Douglas Smith collection. A second was in the inventory of a Baltimore dealer, 196.8 grains (12.75 grams).)
2. Offset edging blunders: According to Ivan Leaman and Donald Gunnet, a workman's "incomplete retraction of the sliding die" in the Castaing machine produced blanks with missing or overlapped letters. Their diagrams, although for half dollar edge dies, nevertheless explain the phenomenon for cents and half cents better than any words can. Examples abound among Capped Bust half dollars; they are much rarer among cents.
Examples on 1793 Chain and Wreath cents probably exist. Look for overlaps between vine and bars. Examples of 1794 and 1795 cents are known with various lettering combinations. Douglas Pryor and Dan Trollan have each reported a number of these. (Douglas Pryor, Penny-Wise. [Source of the Pryor article has not been located]. Dan Trollan, Penny-Wise, no. 184, 1/15/1998, pp. 10-11.)
The listing in each of these articles proves that errors of this kind, and of the same extent, repeatedly occurred at various times on blanks from various sources, rather than representing blanks from a single operator's misunderstood instructions. In addition to the listings in the articles by Pryor and Trollan, many examples are listed at the individual variety listings for 1794 and 1795.
Die Blunders
This classification of die blunders is numbered differently from my Half Cent Encyclopedia (Pp. 472-74.) and includes many not hitherto listed. For illustrations see main text at the varieties named. Die errors are more widely known as die varieties. Each coin struck after the error occurs is nearly identical. Most of these represent Mint economy rather than oversight.
Dates
1. Wrong font date digits: 1798 varieties 31-33 (large 8 from half eagle).
2. Misplaced date digits: 1794 variety 37 ("Fallen 4"), varieties 46-48 (rotated). 1795 varieties 2-3 (top stroke of 5 buried in bust). 1802 varieties 6-7 (low 8 leaning right). 1811 variety 2 (second 1 too low, leaning left)
3. Broken date digits: Blunilson 1798 variety 23, blunt final 1 on all 1801s, blunt Is on all 1802s, a111803 small dates, 1804, 1805 varieties 1-2, and 1807 varieties 1-2, 4-6.
Broken punches, broken dies, and chipped hubs are referenced at the individual variety listings. Further, on many dies the broken letters received handmade serifs, and sometimes these were well enough done to remain unnoticeable.
4. Repunched dates: 1794 varieties 2-3 (I), 1794 variety 37 (full date), 1796 variety 44 (6 first low, then corrected), 1798 variety 34 (7), 1810/09 variety 1 (both Is). Less obvious instances are numerous.
5. Overdates correcting rotational blunders: 1794 variety 61 (1), 1811/0 variety 2 (last two Is).
6. Overdates correcting wrong fonts: 1809 variety 1.
7. Overdates using unhardened leftover dies: 1798/7 varieties 6-7,13, 1799/8 varieties 1-2, 1800/179 variety 1, 1800/1798 varieties 2-5, 1800/179 varieties 6-11, 1807/6 varieties 2-3, 1810/9 variety 1,1811/10 variety 2,1813/2 variety 1.
These most likely represent economy rather than over-sight. The other possible class, used dies reworked, occurs for 1806/5 in quarter dollars, half dollars and quarter eagles, but in cents only on the reverse of 1803 variety 7.
Fraction
1. Misplaced fraction: 1793 variety 16, 1794 variety 40, 1798 variety 4, and less obvious instances.
2. Wrong font: 1794 varieties 7-8, tall numerator.
3.Blundered (11000): 1801 varieties 8, 11, 12, 15, 17, and 1802 variety 4.
4. Corrected erroneous digit(s), 1/100 over 1/000: 1801 variety 5 and 1803 variety 7. The latter is one of the rare instances of a die reworked after use.
5. Large over small: 1798 variety 42.