Thank you to all who participated. Although no one went 4/4 there were a lot who got part of the quiz right! It is very difficult to grade coins from photographs, especially copper coins, so no one should be discouraged by their guesses!

**The odd coin out is b, the middle coin, but the focus of the discussion is actually on the 2 other coins!
For the contest:
the actual grades:

a. 1878 1C, BN AU58+ ( love this coin)

b. 1878 1C, RB MS64RB ( like this coin)

c 1878 1C, BN AU53 (eh)
**
TOP DOLLAR WINS THE GRADING CONTEST. He was the most accurate, but it was very close! Several others like Raybo and 1Bufffan DESERVE HONORABLE MENTION for their sharp grading skills!

A special "Hats off" to those who figured out that coins A and C both have a dot die mark on the ribbon! This is actually what the thread is about!

A. the top coin, graded Au 58+ , is a coin i acquired about 10 years ago raw. When i bought it i noticed the little raised dot on the ribbon. I immediately thought it was special. This raised "lump" is about the size of one of the beads on liberty's necklace. It is rounded and well defined under magnification. The fact that it is also found on the ribbon -which is on one of the highest points of relief on the obverse,I though was also significant. When i acquired it I rushed home to look up the Snow variety! I eagerly turned to the 1878 section in Rick Snow's Flying Eagle and Indian cent attribution guide, and to my surprise, it was not referenced! My heart raced. I immediately though of the most famous dot cents in numismatics - the rare and valuable John Pittman examples of 1936 Dot cents (Canadian), that sold for 500K! What did i have?

Then a light bulb went off. I remembered reading a story in the Numismatist many years ago about a sting at the US mint that involved marking an Indian head cent die with a raised dot to nab a thief at the mint. As the story goes, at the end of a specific work shift at the mint, all employees were told to empty their pockets. One of the employees has the newly made marked pennies in his possession. It was surmised that they could have only come from him stealing them, as they were never released into circulation. I believe the mint employee was fired, and that was the end of the caper! Or maybe it wasn't!

Now, as some of you know that now famous "sting" actually occurred in 1875, and not 1878. In fact there are several 1875 Dot cents knows today, including several in Mint state. The dot on the 1875 cents is rounded and well defined and deemed intentional (just like this one i thought), except the 1875 dot is found on the reverse of the coin, on the N in ONE cent. The location of the dot on the 1875 cent is of importance because the N is one of the highest points of friction on the coins' reverse. I believe this "spot" was specifically chosen for the dot at the time because the inconspicuous dot die marker would quickly wear off after a few rounds in commerce, and no one would be the wiser! Most known 1875 dot cents are high grade where the dot has not had a chance to yet wear away. On even lightly worn coins it would probably wear away quickly and may not even be visible.

Ok , so we know that in 1875 the mint produced a dot cent. Could it be that the sting was so successful that they ran it again In 1878 ?

Well it took about 8 years but i finally located ANOTHER 1878 Obverse DOT cent, (coin C)! It was purchased raw, has a little corrosion spot, but PCGS deemed it grade worthy and it garnered the AU 53 grade.

Now that i have located 2 of them, i wonder how many more are out there? I tend to believe the dot on the ribbon is not just a die chip of coincidence. After all, the ribbon, like the the N on the reverse is one of the highest points of the coin, and would be the soonest to be worn away. Certainly a good place to hide an inconspicuous die mark! And what better way to throw off any employees who may have known about the trap a few years earlier, than to switch locations and sides?

So can we vote?

Is this a die chip that occurred by happenstance?

Or is it a more purposeful added mark?

perhaps time will tell!

Thanks for PLAYIING!