1898 Indian Head Cent Misplaced Date FS-401 Snow-12

Description

Cross-referenced as FS-401 in the Cherrypickers' Guide and Snow-12 in Rick Snow's comprehensive Indian Head Cent attribution system, this 1898 Indian Head Cent displays a misplaced date variety where the digit 8 was accidentally punched into the denticles below the second 8 in the date. Misplaced date varieties occur during the hand-punching era of U.S. Mint die preparation, when individual date digits were punched one at a time into each working die using steel letter punches — a process that occasionally resulted in an initial punch landing too high, too low, or offset from the intended position. In this case, the date punch was struck too low during die preparation, leaving a partial impression of the 8 in the denticle area below the date before the die sinker repositioned and punched the digit correctly. The partial 8 visible in the denticles is the key diagnostic for attribution. The 1898 Indian Head Cent was designed by James Barton Longacre, featuring his idealized Liberty wearing a feathered headdress on the obverse and a laurel wreath with oak leaves and a shield on the reverse. Struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 95% copper and 5% tin-and-zinc (the bronze composition used from 1864 onward), this cent weighs 3.11 grams with a diameter of 19.0 mm. The FS-401 designation in the Fivaz-Stanton system and the Snow-12 catalog number both confirm this as a recognized and collectible variety. Examination requires careful inspection of the denticle area directly below the date under 5x to 10x magnification, looking for the curved outline of the displaced 8 among the tooth-like border elements.

Attribution History

• FS-401, Snow-12