Comments: Prior to November 2013, the author has not seen an 1839 dime with the reverse die rotated right. Essentially all known 1839 die pairings are found with rotated reverses measured at 12, 18 or 23-24 degrees left. The exception was the Variety 105 die pairing which produced several proof strikes followed by business strikes that eventually lead to the Pie Shattered Obverse (Variety 105c). The lack of reverse rotation for the Pie Shattered Obverse was used as an important diagnostic for cherrypicking earlier die states. During October 2013, the author discovered an early die state Variety 106 dime with normal die alignment; this variety is listed as F-106a. During November 2013, an 1839 dime appeared on eBay with a rotated reverse but rotated right 12 degrees! The dime was purchased, attributed and is listed as Variety 109; a die pairing of Obverse 3 with Reverse H.

During the Variety 109 die pairing, Obverse 3 is in a similar die state as defined for Variety 106b. There is a weak die crack from the rim down through Liberty's head. Star 8 is boldy repunched. However, the six parallel die scratches between Star 1-2 and the base are not evident on the plate coin. Reverse H is in a slightly earlier die state as during the Variety 108 die pairing. There are faint die cracks from (AME)RICA to the rim.

The reverse rotation during this die pairing is measured at exactly 12 degrees. This measurement leads to a new observation concerning 1839 reverse die rotation. It appears that the reverse rotation is found in multiples of 6 degrees either left (common) or right (presently rare). For left rotation, occurences of 12, 18 and approximately 24 degrees have been measured on other 1839 die pairings. More research is definitely required to validate this new observation.

Plate Coin: G. Fortin Collection, NGC AU55

1839 Varieties 101, 102, 103, 104, 104a, 104b, 105, 105a, 105b, 105c, 106, 106a, 106b, 106c, 107, 108, 109

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