Mouse over the image to highlight the overdate
On this page, we will take a look at the 1883/2 FS5c-013.1 (F-09) shield nickel. Here is a picture of the date area of a particularly nice example.
Mouse over the image to highlight the overdate
For this variety, the underlying 2 is positioned slightly to the left of the 3.
The die break pictured above is very characteristic of FS5c-013.1, and may be used for diagnostic purposes. However, lack of the die break does not automatically mean that the coin is not FS5c-013.1, because early die stages of the variety do exist (an early die stage coin is pictured below). Conversely, presence of a very similar die break also does not guarantee that the coin is FS5c-013.1 - click here for some further discussion about that.
Here is a series of pictures of FS5c-013.1 showing different die stages. The pictures are ordered by the increasing presence of the characteristic die break.
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F-09a
(really pre-a, no trace of die crack)
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F-09a
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F-09b
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F-09b
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F-09b
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F-09b
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F-09b
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F-09c
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Fletcher die stages are catalogued as follows:
| F-09a- | No die break (example: first photo above) |
| F-09a | Light die crack. (example: second photo above) |
| F-09b | Die crack progressed to a die break. Crack gradually lengthens and strengthens. (examples: third through seventh photo above) |
| F-09c | Die break progressed to a retained cud. (example: eighth photo above) |
For reference, here are pictures of the full obverse and reverse of FS5c-013.1.
All text and images for the 1883/2 Shield Nickel website are copyright (C) 2002, 2003, 2004,2005, 2006, 2015 by Howard Spindel