Below for comment, find an example of an 1888 5 cent of Canada with what appears to be a doubled middle '8'. It appears that this variety is unlisted. There is a doubled last '8' listed and imaged in C&C.
Look at how the bottom of that 8 is cut off, flat. That's due to the strike. A re-punch would have preserved it intact. Compare it to the bottoms of the other 8s.
Thank you eddiespin for responding. Below, find images from C&C of the doubled last '8' variety. To my eye it appears similar in character to the item in hand, where the initial impression is struck low and the second strike slightly higher (with respect to my coin, slightly higher and slightly to the right). After polishing, only a remnant of the first strike is left in both instances. Also find below additional evidence of the first strike in my initial image. I should have included the additional two arrows but inadvertently omitted them. Of course, I may have this analysis wrong and you may be perfectly correct. C&C image 1 C&C IMAGE 2 C&C IMAGE 3 .
