1897 penny double dot serifs

[terrysoldpennies]

Sorry to all you non dot penny collectors .   This Obverse double dot type is only found on the 1897 high tide penny

[terrysoldpennies]

Full coin

[IanB]

Thats interesting, any thoughts on why, or how they are there?

[terrysoldpennies]

I think they are the result of a tiny die crack    Terry

[secret santa]

Just looked at mine - they're there !!!!!

[IanB]

Is there something going on next to the serif on the bottom of the T as well as the bottom of the R?

[Rob]

Just wondering out loud if the dots are the remains of a guide line to show where the legend should be given they run at a consistent level near the letter bases. A line could be scribed or it could be a series of light dots punched in with either subsequently polished out when work was complete.

[IanB]

They look quite deep. Is it possible they got larger over time or do dots only get smaller.

if they were guide lines then the die sinker miscalculated their position for them to end up that close to the O.

How would they polish them out without causing wear to the surrounding letters?

[davidrj]

My example has no dots, do I have the rare one? Seriously any idea of the incidence? 1897 high tides are very scarce to begin with, so worth everyone here who has one to check. The OH penny has only 1 obverse type, so probably most of us haven't given any of the series more than a cursory look.

[terrysoldpennies]

Ian .The die would a Mirror image of the face of the coin ,so a dot standing up off the coin would on the die be a hole, so to remove, it the hole would have to be filled. My guess is that tiny edge parts along the side of the die crack, broke away leaving a small hole, or in this case two holes.

[IanB]

Doh!  that makes sense about the holes. I have to try and remember to think in reverse when talking about dies.

it a bit of a coincidence that the dots are on either side of the O.

Also why are they round in shape, if something broke off chances it would be irregular in shape.

[terrysoldpennies]

I must confess , I don't know why they should be round or sometimes oval, but they seem to form mostly along the cracks that are in the legend, as can be seen on Richards coin, where a smaller dot on the left of the O must later enlarge to link into the side of the O.  I don't know the exact way they are made , but maybe the bronze is soft and creates a bubble of metal in the form of a blob   Terry

[terrysoldpennies]

8 years of looking , I've have one , seen one other fully formed, and Richards ,not quite two serifs   Terry

[PWA 1967]

I have five and just had a look at them.

Needless to say they are all normal