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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Eduard, post: 3017025, member: 8959&quot;]Among early large cents there are handful of varieties bearing some interesting errors in die engraving.</p><p><br /></p><p>Perhaps the better known varieties are the so-called &#039;3-Error Reverse&#039; varieties, S-218 and S-219, both 1801 cents, with 3 major engraving errors on the reverse.</p><p><br /></p><p>The 1796 &#039;Liherty&#039; varieties are further examples (S-103 and S-104), as well as 1794, S-55, so-called Office-Boy&#039; variety due to some very &#039;interesting&#039; (read irregular) peculiarities in the lettering of the reverse legends.</p><p><br /></p><p>Finally, we have the 1802, S-241 which also sports some major interesting engraving errors on the reverse.</p><p><br /></p><p>One can only speculate how all this happened. What is easy to imagine, however, is how &#039;quaint&#039; and somewhat rudimentary (for lack of a better word) conditions were at the U.S mint in the very early years of operation.</p><p><br /></p><p>For me, all of this just adds to the &#039;earthly&#039; appeal of early U.S coinage.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here are are my examples of some of these interesting reminders of the conditions in the early years of the U.S mint at Philadelphia:</p><p><br /></p><p>1796 LIBERTY variety, S-103.</p><p>&#039;B&#039; in Liberty first punched upside down, then corrected making it appear like an &#039;H&#039;</p><p>[ATTACH=full]749266[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]749267[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>1801, 3-errors variety, S-219 (also present in the much scarcer S-218)</p><p>The left wreath stem is absent, the &#039;U&#039; in UNITED was initially entered inverted, then hastily corrected, and the fraction is 1/000.</p><p>(The M in AMERICA is also noticeably prepunched)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]749268[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]749269[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>1802, S-241.</p><p>&#039;&#039;A clumsily engraved reverse die with absent stems, a double fraction bar, and a widely repunched second S in STATES&#039;&#039;.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]749270[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]749271[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Please post any examples of early engraving mishaps you may have.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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