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Agreed. I do wonder about why this should be so? I'm thinking that Heatons were the preferred subcontractor, having been used since the 1870s, so on one level you'd think they'd get the better selection of dies? But if there was no difference in the quality of obverse die sent to both, then it COULD be that the slight variation in metal used for blanks might be the reason? Every collector is probably aware of the reddish colour that KNs have when worn, compared to the brown/black appearance of H pennies.

Yea, the 1918H trails a bit, although in my experience in being VERY picky the 1919H struck in good metal, of good colour and excellent strike is harder than any of the others. If not as choosy and going down to the gVF sort of category, then I might agree with the above schema. Again, I seem to have found more than my share of KNs of both dates - they IMHO tend to be much better struck than the "H crew". The strike of Mike's 19H is really lovely. The TPGs are willing to technically grade softly struck pieces into the 63-65 range - so they may technically be close to as struck but just too soft and sometimes the metal being of poor colour. I suspect that a 19H if well struck and of the best quality could bring a big price, unfortunately moreso if slabbed high.

Overall, It balances itself out Chris. Some you get as real bargains, others you pay over the odds for. Having 1919H and 1918KN together is probably about right these days.

1882 has 2 varieties, reverse C and reverse D 1889 obverse 2 is paired with reverses A, B & C

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