Liberty Seated Dimes Varieties 1837-1891 - 1891 New Orleans Variety Chapter Page

1891-O

Mintage: 4,540,000

Top 100	Var#	Obv	Rev	DR	Obverse / Reverse Quick Diagnostics	Ahwash	Greer
	101	1	A	0C	Medium Level Date, Die Cracks / Medium O, [mm Lt,H.TL2], DCr at 4:30
	102	1.2	B	0C	Clashed Die, Die Cracks, Medium Level Date / Medium O, [mm C,H]
	102a	1.2	B.2	0C	Heavily Clashed Die, Medium Level Date / Clashed Die, [mm C,H]	A-1
	103	2	C	0B1	Medium Date, Upward Slope, Broken Foot At 1 / Medium O, [mm Rt,H]	A-2
	103a	2.2	C.2	0B1	Clashed Die, Medium Date, Upward Slope / Clashed Die, [mm Rt,H]
	104	3	D	1C	Medium Date, Sl. Up Slope / Medium O, [mm Rt,H,TR2], Die Cracks
	104a	3	D.2	1C	Medium Date, Sl. Up Slope / Shattered Die at 9:00, Medium O
	105	3.2	E	1C	Med Date, Sl. Up Slope, DCrs / Med O, [mm C,H], Die Crack To Rim	A-3
	106	4	F	0R	Repunched Date, Med Date, Sl. Up Slope / Medium O/O, [mm Lt,H,TL2]		G106/7
*	106a	4.2	F.2	0R	Heavily Clashed Die, Repunched Date / Clashed Die, Medium O/O	A-4
	107	5	G	0R	Medium Date, Up Slope, DCr Through Head / Medium O/O Repunched West	A-5
*	108	6	H	0B1	Med Level Date, DCr Through Head / Shattered Die, Med O, [mm Lt,H]	A-6
*	109	7	I	0R	Med Level Date, DCr Through Legend / Medium O Over Horizontal O	A-7	G101
	110	7	J	0R	Med Level Date, DCr Through Legend / Medium O, [mm Lt,H,TR2]
	110a	7.2	J.2	0R	Heavy Die Cracks Through Legend / Cracked Reverse On Left Wreath
*	111	8	K	0L	Repunched 89, Med Level Date / Med O Over Small S, [mm Lt,H,TL4]
	112	9	K.2	0R	Med Date, Sl. Up Slope / Med O Over Small S, Cracked and Clashed Die	A-8
	113	10	L	0C	Repunched 89, Med Date, Sl. Up Slope / Med O, [mm Lt,H,TL5], DCr		G102
	114	11	M	-1B0	Repunched 9, High Date, Down Slope /Repunched Med O, [mm Lt,H,TL6]		G103
	114a	11.2	M.2	-1B0	Die Crack Through Head / Die Cracks, Medium O, [mm Lt,H,TL6]		G103
	114b	11.2	M.3	-1B0	Die Crack Through Head / Shattered Die, Medium O, [mm Lt,H,TL6]		G103
	115	12	N	1L	Extra Ball To 9, Med Date, Sl. Up Slope/DCr Thru MM, [mm C,C,TR3]		G104
	115a	12	N.2	1L	Extra Ball To 9 / Cuds at 4:30, 7:30, Die Cr Thru MM, [mm C,C,TR3]		G105
	116	13	O	0L	Repunched 9, Med Date, Sl. Down Slope / [mm C,H], DCr at Mintmark		G105
	117	14	P	0B1	MPD 89 In Denticles, Med Date, Sl. Down Slope / Med O, [mm Lt,H,TL2]
	118	15	Q	0C	Heavy Die Cracks, High Level Date /Medium O, [mm Rt,H], Cracked Die
	119	16	R	-1C	High Date, Sl. Down Slope / Shattered Die, Medium O, [mm Lt,H,TR4]
	119a	16	R.2	-1C	High Date, Sl. Down Slope / Terminal Die State, Die Cud 8:00-9:00
	120	17	S	1L	Medium Date, Up Slope / Perfect Die, Med O, [mm C,H]
	120a	17	S.2	1L	Medium Date, Up Slope / Shattered Die At 2:30-4:30, Med O, [mm C,H]
	121	18	T	0C	Medium Level Date, Clashed Die / Clashed and Shattered Die [mm Lt,H]
	122	19	U	1L	Med Date, Sl. Up Slope / Cracked Die At 9:00-10:30, Med O, [mm C,H]
	123	20	V	0B1	Misplaced 1 Digit in Base, Medium Level Date / Medium O, [mm Lt,C]
	123a	20	V.2	0B1	MPD 1 in Base, Medium Level Date / DCr Through Mintmark, Medium O
	123b	20.2	V.3	0B1	Die Crack Through Head / Major Cud 9:00 - 10:30, Medium O
	124	21	W	0L	Medium Date, Down Slope / Medium O, Repunched West, [mm Lt,H]
	124a	21.2	W.2	0L	DCrs, Med Date, Down Slope / Die Break 10:00-11:30, Med O, [mm Lt,H]
	125	22	X	0B1	Medium Date, Up Slope / Retained Cud at 10:00, Med O, [mm Lt,H,TL6]
	126	23	Y	1C	Medium Level Date / Partial Cud at 1:00, Medium O, [mm Lt,H]
	127	24	Z	1L	High Level Date, DCr Through Head / Medium O, [mm Lt,H], Cracked Die
	128	25	AA	0B1	Excessive Clashing, Medium Date, Up Slope, / Medium O, [mm C,H,TR], Die Clashing, Strike Doubling
	129	26	BB	0C	High Date, Sl. Up Slope/ Shattered Die, Medium O, [mm Lt,H, TL6]
	130	27	CC	-1B0	Medium Date, Sl. Down Slope, Weak Final 1 / Medium O, [mm C,H,TR8]
	131	28	DD	0B1	Med Date, Up Slope/Shattered Die 10:00 - 11:30 Med O, [mm Lt,H,TR2]
	132	29	EE	0B1	Med Date, Up Slope/Cracked Die, Cud - Corn Ear, Med O, [mm Lt,H,TR2]
	132a	29	EE.2	0B1	Med Date, Up Slope/Retained Cud at 9:00, Med O, [mm Lt,H,TR2]


Variety Vs. Denticle Ruler Cross Reference Table

Reverse Die and Mintmark Position Comparison Guide

Scarcity: A common date in all grades but popular as the only affordable New Orleans With Legend obverse type. 

Updated Greer Rarity Ratings
Overall Rarity: G-VG R1, F-VF R1, EF-AU R2, MS R3+ 

                                Fortin Variety Rarity Estimates In VF - Mint State

Variety	Rarity	Suggested Premiums	Variety	Rarity	Suggested Premiums
101	R4	-	116	R3	-
102	R3	-	117	R5	50-100%
102a	R4	-	118	R4	-
103	R4	-	119	R4	-
103a	R3	-	119a	R6+	200-300%
104	R3	-	120	R4	-
104a	R4	-	120a	R6	200-300%
105	R3	-	121	R4	-
106	R4	-	122	R4+	-
106a	R4	-	123	R3	-
107	R3	-	123a	R3	-
108	R4+	-	123b	R7	200-300%
109	R6	800-1000%	124	R3	-
110	R4	-	124a	R5	100-200%
110a	R5	50-150%	125	R6	200-300%
111	R3	50-150%	126	R4+	100-200%
112	R4	-	127	R3	-
113	R3	-	128	R4	-
114	R3	-	129	R5	50-100%
114a	R4	-	130	R4	-
114b	R6	200-300%	131	R5	50-100%
115	R4	50-100%	132	R4+	-
115a	R6	200-300%	132a	R7	200-300%

Comments: 1891 New Orleans dimes have an uncommon occurrence of die cracks and severe die breakage while strike
quality is consistently strong. No other date in the Seated Dime series shows a similar level of repeated die
degradation and breakage. Were a limited number of dies overworked to produce the 4,540,000 pieces? The number
of identified obverses dies would not support this explanation. A review of 1891 coinage types at the New Orleans
mint reveals only Seated dimes (4.5 million) and Morgan dollars (7.9 million) being produced in large quantities.
Small denomination coinage had not been struck in New Orleans for many years prior to 1891. Rather, the New Orleans
mint had been busy producing millions of Morgan dollars since 1879. I believe that, in 1891, the press operators
were unfamiliar with the production of small denomination coinage. Therefore the striking pressure employed for
Morgan dollars may not have been properly adjusted during the striking of the dime denomination. The result of
improper or excessive striking pressure would be rapid die degradation and die cracking though producing sharply
struck coinage. Today, 1891 New Orleans dimes with die cuds are a popular item with Seated dime collectors. I
have attempted to list reasonable pricing premiums for varieties with die cuds. Obtaining die cud varieties in
grades of EF or better will be extremely challenging.

Value As A Date (Coin World Trends/CoinValues

Grade	1963	1973	1983	1993	2003	2012
G	1.5	2.5	4	4.25	20	15
F	3.5	5.5	7.25	7.75	30	25
EF	-	17	30	27	40	40
MS60	30	100	315	145	200	200
MS63	-	-	-	340	400	400

1891-O Date Gallery

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