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Message:: [QUOTE="Marshall, post: 1689136, member: 21705"]The reverse is easily determined to be Sheldon's Rev A. The 1 seems too fat for the typical S-271 so I initially rejected it. But the obverse alternatives could all be eliminated. So I looked more closely at the dentils and confirmed Obverse A as well, though some PMD made it resemble later obverses. It is an early die state which might account for the difference as well since most examples are of the later die states giving the variety it's common name, the Comet Variety and the 1 of the die could have been partially filled by that time. As for your question concerning mint verses post mint damage, I can only suggest more study of the minting process. Planchet flaws were common in the early days of copper production since some of the copper used to make the planchets was salvaged. This along with some lamination defects accounts for a very small number of mint defects compared to the typical post mint damage. These early coppers were not only used as coinage, but as a convenient source of copper disks for use in any number of household needs. These post mint uses far outnumber those few mint made errors and a very close familiarity with the minting process is required to make such a determination.[/QUOTE]