Comments: Obverse 12 presents an additional obverse die for the 1890 San Francisco coinage. The date on this die is high with a slight downward slope. Obverse 12 is paired with Reverse H.

The Variety 117 reverse can be easily diagnosed by a Medium S mintmark that is positioned high and has a noticeable right tilt. There is a punch defect in the lower loop of the mintmark that is sometimes mistakenly listed as a repunched mintmark. On the above two plate coins, the left wreath elements are very weak along with a vertical die crack through the lower right wreath. After seeing multiple examples, I am convinced that the weakness is due to die lapping and not strike weakness.

Plate Coin: Gerry Fortin Collection, PCGS MS64 CAC (above), PCGS AU55 (below)

1890s Varieties 101, 101a, 102, 103, 103a, 104, 105, 106, 106a, 107, 108, 108a, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 114a, 115, 116, 117, 118

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