Recent Acquisition... 1832 H10C PCGS AU 50 LM 8, but which one?

2ltdjorn

Found this coin lurking in a local B&Ms inventory. I was attracted to the coin for the original look, and was very interested in the many die cracks on the reverse of the coin. I looked up the coin to attribute the variety before checking the PCGS cert #, which provided the link to the auction below. Stacks called is a LM 8.4. I was having a little difficulty differentiating the the 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4. Any thoughts?

Link to Auction

yosclimber

Check the "Reverse T Deterioration" section of the LM book, p.72-73.
It shows the key changes between the die states of each known die marriage using Reverse T.
Using the chart, we can see that "E1 fills" between LM 8.3 and 8.4, and the (lower interior of) E1 is filled,
so this one is at least LM 8.4.
A confirming marker is the die crack which exists between NITE, which starts in 8.4.
Other confirming markers which rule out 8.3 and earlier are the cracks from F and M to rim, and the weak dentils on the right side of the obverse.
(There seems to be a typo in LM 8.2 and 8.3 regarding these dentils).

Distinguishing between LM 8.4 and 8.5 is harder.
The chart says "DC forms A3 to rim".
I can see something weak there in the High Resolution Image, but I'm not sure if it's a crack or not.
You might be able to examine this area with different lighting angles to look for a crack.
I don't see the crack through the base of ES which should be there in 8.5.
I think I see a crack from the rim through D to the scroll, which is supposed to start in 8.5.
There does seem to be a chip in the N also.
But I don't see the later state markers for 8.5.

So it's 8.4 or an early state of 8.5.
Sorry I can't be more definite, but others will probably help out.

Thanks for asking this interesting question. The images are top quality.