From my collection, below, find digital images of a Canada 1 cent 1881 H. It appears to be of the obverse 1a type. All comments welcome. OBVERSE OBVERSE(2): MAGNIFIED IMAGE INDICATING TYPE 1a. OBVERSE(3): MAGNIFIED IMAGE SHOWING DIE BREAK 'CLOSING' THE 'V' OF 'VICTORIA' OBVERSE(4): MAGNIFIED IMAGE SHOWING INCOMPLETE 'C' & 'T' OF 'VICTORIA' OBVERSE(5): MAGNIFIED IMAGE SHOWING INCOMPLETE 'A' OF 'VICTORIA OBVERSE(6): MAGNIFIED IMAGE SHOWING A WEAK DIE CRACK FROM LOWER RIGHT OF 'C' THRU 'A' TO LOWER LEFT SIDE OF THE LEFT UPRIGHT OF THE 'N' IN 'CANADA'. AT RIGHT SIDE OF THE RIGHT UPRIGHT OF THE 'N' APPEARS TO BE DIE EROSION DOUBLING. REVERSE
Thanks for the Obverse 1a confirmation. Since C&C singles out the Type 1a, may we safely assume that all other 1881 H cents indicated in C&C are obverse Type 1? I was also curious to know why C&C does not give a value for the Type 1a in any grade?...
Don't pay attention to what CaC lists or includes or not cover. There were about as many Obv 1 dies as Obv 1a dies. And then you have the 1a/1 dies. Each of the 3 Obverse types have about as many varieties as any other. The matrix or submatrix has protruding characters like a typewriter key does. It usually takes 2-4 individual whacks/pressings of the matrix onto the die to get everything at the same recessed design depth. The mint had not completed making the Obv 1a dies until after the mintage year started, so regular Obv 1 dies were used early on. It may be hours, days, weeks or months between when the 2nd, 3rd or 4th pressings are made to the die, because the die has to softened (annealed) and the matrix has to be hardened for each pressing. The workers on the Mint floor didn't examine the partially finished die to see what was already impressed ... they just grabbed whatever Obv that was on top to continue finishing the complete die. You might have a die that was struck 2-3 times by just an Obv 1 die or you might have one that was struck 2-3 times with a 1a die. And then you had the probably commonest combo of the 1a/1. I think that the straight Obv 1's are the least available but, unless it has some other anomaly, no added value. Just enjoy the 1881's for all the varieties and oddities there are to find and there are some very scarce varieties in all 3 of the Obv types. Just remember that many many'81 dies were struck on old leftover 1876 dies(Obv 1) with single serif N's. The '81's Obv 1's all (except 1) have hand-repunched N's, as well as many other digits and letters as the mintage year carried on and the dies wore.. I think that there are almost as many different dies and coins as the 1859's and they (the '81's) are more fun.
