Please give me your opinion of how the S-76 categories are handled. The obverse and reverse die pairing makes it the S-76, but is the edge lettering or the thick planchet the key for S-76a. I know most thick planchets were struck with the Edge Lettering and most thin planchets were not, however thick planchets without lettering and thin planchets with lettering are known and the one I describe as S-76b because of the thin planchet actually has a very weak ghostlike lettering. I know this is minutia for anyone other than copperheads, but opinions are desired.
I would say the thickness of the planchet is the key to the a and b designations. The thick plain edge and thin lettered edge coins are actually errors that occurred during the changeover in weight standard that took place in December of 1795. A thick planchet was intended to be made into what we now call 76a. The fact that it missed the edge lettering does not change that. (There are some rare plain edge examples of other varieties of the lettered edge caps as well, they don't get letter subvariety status.) Likewise if a thin planchet was accidentally lettered that doesn't change the fact that it was intended to be one of the later lighter weight coins. Just one man's opinion.
