1869 5c Wide Date, DDO, FS-1101 MS

Key to Collecting: The 1869 is plentiful in most grades. In Mint State, most are in the lower range. True gems, sharply detailed and with good eye appeal, are rare. An MS-64 or MS-65 is a good goal for a fine collection, when such pieces are selected with care as to their sharpness and overall quality.

There were two different date logotypes used this year: Narrow Date and Wide Date. These are interesting to collect and can be obtained by a bit of looking, as the varieties are not widely known. Proofs were made in fair quantity and appear on the market with frequency today, although quality can be a problem.

Characteristics and Appearance: Striking is slightly better than on average for the preceding years, but many have some weakness on the horizontal shield lines and star centers. The luster is satiny and sometimes slightly prooflike. As many die pairs were used, no one rule fits all.

Narrow Date—FS-301, F-01. From the center of the 1 to the center of the 9, the Narrow Date occupies the space of eight denticles, while the Wide Date occupies about nine. The Narrow Date is scarcer and was used only on circulation strikes. All examples have the normal reverse. Certain four-digit date logotypes for the 1869 coinage were supplied to the Mint on October 10, 1868, by local letter-cutter S.E. Adamson.

Wide Date—FS-1101, F-413. From the center of the 1 to the center of the 9 the Wide Date occupies the space of nine denticles. The Wide Date was used on circulation strikes and Proofs. Circulation strikes are known with Obverse Styles 1a and 1b and with the normal reverse and the Reverse of 1868.

Missing Leaf—No outside leaf on the second group at right; three leaves instead of four. At least six dies have this feature. See the listing for 1868 for a representative illustration.

Other varieties—Several varieties with slightly doubled dies and/or repunched dates are listed by Fivaz-Stanton, Fletcher, and Peters-Mohon. Breen’s “1869/8 overdate,” B-2480, has been discredited. Coins struck with the combination of Obverse Style 1b and Reverse D (the normal reverse) are rare.