1864 Indian Head Cent (L on Ribbon) Repunched Date FS-2304 Snow-5

Description

Designated FS-2304 in the Fivaz-Stanton Cherrypickers' Guide and Snow-5 in the Snow Indian Head Cent reference, this 1864 Indian Head Cent of the L on Ribbon variety presents a repunched date on a separate die from Snow-4 (FS-2303), with its own repunching geometry and diagnostics distinct from that attribution. Snow-5 and Snow-4 share the same year and sub-type but differ in the specific character and positioning of the secondary date impression — a distinction requiring direct comparison of diagnostic die features to separate them in hand. The L on Ribbon sub-variety was introduced when engraver James Barton Longacre added his initial to Liberty's headband ribbon in 1864, and it remains the more actively studied and more valuable of the two 1864 Indian Head Cent sub-types. The 1864 cent marks the transition year from copper-nickel to bronze composition, and L on Ribbon cents belong to the bronze production that carried this design for decades. FS-2304 and Snow-5 together confirm this as a catalogued, independently attributable repunched date variety in both the major Cherrypickers' system and the specialist Indian Head Cent reference.

Attribution History

• FS-2304, Snow-5