Re: 1909-S cent reverse dies

mr1931S

Understood: One reverse type used to make 1909 Lincoln cents has a "deep valley" 'N' in "UNITED". The other reverse type used to make 1909 Lincoln cents has a "shallow valley" 'N' in "UNITED".

Is it reasonable to call the shallow valley 'N' reverse the "old" reverse and to call the deep valley 'N' reverse the "new" reverse?

robec

That’s hard to say. Do we know the time line of when the SVDB and plain VDB’s were minted?
The deep valley appears in the S, plain and plain VDB. The shallow valley appears in all 4 issues.

mr1931S

There was design change on the Barber dime in 1901. The obverse and reverse design for the dimes up to and including some 1901 issues is called "old" design. During and after 1901, there was made a so-called "new" design on the dimes. There are some 1901 dimes existing with new obverse and old reverse. Some (most) 1901 dimes were made with new obverse and new reverse.The difference between old and new design in Barber dimes is minor but it is distinct just as the difference in shallow valley 'N' versus deep valley 'N' on the reverse of the Lincoln cent is.

Is there any information out there WHY these minor design changes were made, Barber dime, Lincoln cent, no matter?

mr1931S

I guess not.Looks like I'm going to have to use my imagination and formulate a theory.

What say you Dr. Einstein?

mr1931S

Dr. Einstein says that he is 99% certain that shallow valley 'N' is "old" reverse type.Deep valley 'N' is "new" reverse type,in other words. He adds that coiners at the SF mint were elated when they got the go ahead to stamp a few SVDB's with the new reverse die and the FLFR 'S' obverse die.

ricko

I will have to read this again... I am now fully confused on deep/shallow N reverses on Lincoln cents.... Cheers, RickO

mr1931S

@ricko said:
I will have to read this again... I am now fully confused on deep/shallow N reverses on Lincoln cents.... Cheers, RickO

There's a thread here devoted to deep and shallow valley 'N.' Just use a few keywords in a search and you should be able to find it.