Details of a reference to B.M.C. by Peck

[Nick]

I was reading an article about the 1882 no-H penny which provided a reference to regulations introduced at the Mint in 1864. The reference is to B.M.C. page 417. Can anybody provide the details of the reference, as I don't have access to a copy of Peck's book?

[declanwmagee]

It says here:

"In 1864, during the Mastership of Professor Graham (1855-1869), a new and wasteful practice was introduced of scrapping all imperial coin dies on the last day of the year for which they were dated, regardless of their condition. Previously, dies of one year continued to be used for the following year so long as they remained serviceable, sometimes with the date altered by overcutting the last figure. The only known instances of such overcutting in the bronze series occur for the years 1865 and 1889."

So not really about the 1882 penny.

In a footnote on the same page, he says:

"...all three denominations dated 1876 and 1882 were struck by Heatons. In some years the blanks were obtained from Birmingham, but the actual striking was done at the Mint."

[Nick]

It says here:

"In 1864, during the Mastership of Professor Graham (1855-1869), a new and wasteful practice was introduced of scrapping all imperial coin dies on the last day of the year for which they were dated, regardless of their condition. Previously, dies of one year continued to be used for the following year so long as they remained serviceable, sometimes with the date altered by overcutting the last figure. The only known instances of such overcutting in the bronze series occur for the years 1865 and 1889."

So not really about the 1882 penny.

In a footnote on the same page, he says:

"...all three denominations dated 1876 and 1882 were struck by Heatons. In some years the blanks were obtained from Birmingham, but the actual striking was done at the Mint."

Many thanks Declan. The 1882 penny connection was a bit of a red herring, it was the reference to the usage of the dies that I was interested in.