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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Eduard, post: 2561793, member: 8959&quot;]This interesting discussion (which I am quoting from another forum) discusses this very point with regard to S-277:</p><p><br /></p><p>&#039;&#039;...The S-277 obverse and reverse dies are unique to the variety. The obverse die does have 13 stars punched in . The term 12 star variety is simply a term used to describe the apparent differences in the fully struck examples and the weakly struck examples sans the first star. Breen says that the first star is evident or not as a result of strike quality and not wear. Breen also states that the lowest star may be evident or not in any die state- early middle or late. So if the star is not evident in an earlier die state but in a later this would seem to support his claim of strike quality. Noyes states that the reverse die sinking (in the area of the arc crack) causes the weakness in the stars on the obverse. According to Breen the reverse die sinking begins in state II (early to middle) and the arc cracks starts in state IV or the middle die state and expanding as the die state progresses to the later state. If this is the case then the later the die state and progression of the wear of the die, the less and less you would see the star - in other words you would find early die state examples with perfect reverses or nearly so with the star and later die states with more obvious die sinking and cracks with less or no star showing. Longacre&#039;s example is a late die state. It would be interesting to find and early die state example with a perfect reverse or nearly so where the first star is not evident. This would support Breen&#039;s statement. If Breen is correct then the star issue is neither a die state or die stage effect. If you take Noyes&#039; statement associating the star quality with the sinking of the die and the progression of the die state, then the star is would be associated with the middle - later die states, still not classified as a die state and not a stage. It would be interestig to hear other opinions on this&#039;&#039;</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>...&#039;&#039; FWIW, I agree with the above assertion, and after reviewing all the examples I could find, I believe that there is some striking variability among these coins (as is quite common on these classic head large cents), the star in general seems to vary along with the die crack and sinking on the reverse. In other words, I agree with Noyes rather than Breen on this one&#039;&#039;.</p><p><br /></p><p>end of quote.</p><p><br /></p><p>So it appears that Noyes is of a differing opinion that Breen regarding the weakness </p><p>on the obverse of S-277.&nbsp; Notes opines that the weakness progresses as die state progresses, as SuperDave states.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is another S-277 I have. This one (possible ground find) clearly shows the &#039;missing star&#039;, it also shows a perfect reverse. This example then supports the line of thought that die state is related to obverse weakness.</p><p>I have not been able to locate pictures of an example with advanced reverse breaks <b>and a perfect obverse with clearly visible 1st star.</b></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]552312[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]552313[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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