Haxby Catalog of the Canadian 1859 Large Cent
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An Introduction to the Die Varieties of the

Province of Canada 1859 Narrow 9 Cent

by

Dr. James A. Haxby, F.C.N.R.S
(All rights reserved by the author.)

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                                                  A.  INTRODUCTION

          Before plunging into our scheme for the organization of the Province of Canada reverse dies it is important for the reader to appreciate that all the reverse dies were sunk from a single punch. With continued use this punch suffered the usual deterioration of the letters and digits, (as did the obverse punch) but the reverse also lost pieces of the device (maple wreath): parts of three vine loops and part or all of several petioles (leaf stems).  The delicate nature of Wyon’s rendition of the vine and petioles certainly played a major role in the reverse punch deterioration.  Of course, whatever flaws were present on the punch at any given time were transferred to all the dies it sank, which between May 1858 and June 1859 ultimately totaled some 402 dies in the case of the reverse.

          At the point the reverse punch was modified for sinking dies for 1859 (by grinding off the last 8 in the date) deterioration had already occurred in some parts of the device.  For the purposes of this paper the most important of those sites were the stems to leaves 6 and 8 (completely gone), the stem to leaf 9 (2nd half broken off) and loop 7 (a small gap in the center).  The leaves, stems and vine loops are numbered according to Rob Turner’s system, which is illustrated in Figure 1. [1] [2] 

 
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B.  The Master Tools That Produced the 1859 Narrow 9 Cents

B1. The Matrix-Punch-Die System of Die Production

[text]


Picture
Photo 47
Matrix
Picture
Photo 47
Punch
Picture
Photo 47
Die
                                                          [scheme showing production of punch and dies]

B2. State of the Punches at the Beginning of 1859 Die Production

[text]

B3. Obverse Punch

[text]


Picture
Photo 4726A
Broken A 

in Regina

B4. Reverse Punch

[text]
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                                                        The Turner Provincial Cent Leaf Numbering System

 [text]

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Narrow Gap In Vine Loop 7
Picture
Photo 47
Broken Stem 6
 
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a
            C.  Continued Punch Deterioration During Die Production    

[text]


C1. Vine Loop 7 Gap Widening

[text]

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Narrow Gap
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Medium Gap (early)
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Wide Gap
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Medium Gap (Late)
C2. Vine Loop 2 & Stem 10 Breakage

[text]

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Original Loop 2
Picture
Photo 47
Broken Loop 2

 [text]

Picture
Original Stem 10
Picture
Photo 47
Broken Stem 10

C3. Timeline of 185- Cent Reverse Punch Deterioration

[text]
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                            D.  Die Finishing and Defect Repair

D1. Re-punching Letters and Numerals

[text]

D2. Minor Re-punches

[text]

Picture
Photo 4732B
DEI
Picture
Photo 4726B
REGINA
D3. Major Re-punches

[text]


Picture
Photo 4744
ONE
Picture
Photo 4746
1859
Picture
Photo 4758
1859
Picture
Photo 4727
REGINA
Picture
Photo 4734
CANADA
Picture
Photo 4693
DEI
Picture
Photo 4728
GRATIA

D4. Repair of Vine Loop 7 and Stem 8


[text]

Picture
Photo 47
Vine Loop 7
Picture
Photo 47
Stem 8

D5. Repair of Stem 9


[text]

Picture
Photo 47
Finely-repaired (with one
fine slip on midvein)

Picture
Photo 47
Repaired 
with Two slips
Picture
Repaired with “kink”
in stem (& one slip)
Picture
Photo 47
Heavily-Repaired

with two large slips

D6. Repair of Stem 10


[text]

Picture
Original Stem 10
Picture
Repaired Stem 10

D7. Repair of Vine Loop 2


[text]

Picture
Photo 47
Partially-Repaired
Loop
Picture
Photo 4737
Fully-Repaired
Loop (Thick)
Picture
Photo 4680
Fully-Repaired
Loop (Thin)
Picture
Photo 47
Fully-Repaired
Loop (Thick, crude)

D8. Errors in Finishing the Die Surface


[text]

D9. File Marks

[text]

Picture
Photo 47
File Marks O in ONE
Picture
Photo 47
File Marks Near Rim

D10. Overpolishing


[text]

Picture
Photo 47
Normal Leaf 2
Picture
Photo 47
Normal Leaf 6
Picture
Photo 47
Leaf 2 in Overpolished Die
Picture
Photo 47
Leaf 6 in Overpolished Die
 
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                          E.  Die Changes With Storage or Use

[text]

E1. Die Rust Marks

[text]


Picture
Photo 47
Rust Marks on the Queens Neck
Picture
Photo 47
Rust Marks on the N of ONE

E2. Die Breaks (Cracks)


[text]

Picture
Photo 4730
Radial die break
Picture
Photo 47
Circular die break
Picture
Picture
Picture
                                                         Progression of a die break with continued die use

[text]

Picture
Photo 4720
Planchet crack
Picture
Photo 4742B
Planchet lamination

E3. Clash Marks


[text]


Link to a great clash guiding photo
Picture
Photo 47
Portrait profile on reverse

Picture
Queen's ear opening on reverse
Picture
Photo 47  Obverse letters in reverse wreath
Picture
                                                 Multiple impressions of reverse wreath in obverse legend

E4. Die Chips & Misc. Gouges

[text]


Picture
Bridge between G and beaded circle
Picture
Photo 47
Diagonal gouge near Leaf 2

E5. Die Collapses


[text]

Picture
Photo 47 Large collapse near CENT
Picture
Photo 47 xxx xxx

E6. Die Wear


[text]

Picture
Photo 47
Re-punched D in lightly worn die
Picture
Photo 47
Re-punched D in heavily worn die
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                                                                   Photo 47  Distortion of obverse field
E7. Die Clogs

[text]

Picture
Clogged legend and beaded circle
Picture
Photo 47
Clogged legend & beaded circle
 
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                                      F.  Replacement of Dies


[text]

                                                             [scheme showing a sequence of die changes]


 
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         G.  The Haxby System for the Attribution of the 1859 Dies

[text]

G1. Grouping the Reverse Dies

[text]

                                                                       [Reverse Group Sorting Scheme]
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G2. Sorting the Obverses


[text]

G3. Sorting the Reverses

[text]

G4. Die States

[text]
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