United States 1871 cent
Discovery and rarity:
The reverse type of 1869. Presently only two die pairs are known. Snow-4 (The Flying Eagle and Indian Cent Attribution Guide by Richard Snow, 2007) is the attribution for any 1871 Shallow N without an additional variety. Snow-5 has a misplaced 1 digit sticking out of the denticles. The Cherrypicker's Guide lists it in the 5th edition as FS-901. PCGS certified the first 1871 Shallow N in December 2008.
Together the total of all 1871 Shallow N's compared to the regular Bold N is about 1 in 50! Tim Cartwright found a total of 33 (both Snow-#'s) in scanning 2,391 listings. The S4 was discovered by Tim in 1998 and the S5 was discovered by Tim in 2000. Snow-4 is much scarcer than S5 due, in part, because S5's are struck exceptionally well. There are very few MS S4 survivors. Business Strike Die pairs of the 1871 Indian Cent by Tim Cartwright. Longacre's Ledger December 2004 14.4 #62.
1871 Shallow N S4 census by Richard Snow
1871 Shallow N S5 census by Richard Snow
Recorded mintage: 3,929,500.
Specification: 3.11 g, bronze, 19 mm diameter, plain edge.
Catalog reference: KM 90a.
- Alexander, David T., Coin World Comprehensive Catalog & Encyclopedia of United States Coins, Sidney, OH: Amos Press, 1995.
- Breen, Walter H., Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U. S. and Colonial Coins, New York: Doubleday, 1987.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Yeoman, R. S., and Kenneth Bressett (ed.), A Guide Book of United States Coins, 65th Ed., Atlanta, GA: Whitman Publishing, 2011.
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