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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]
B. The Master Tools That Produced the 1859 Narrow 9 Cents
B1. The Matrix-Punch-Die System of Die Production
[text]
 Photo 47
Matrix |
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[scheme showing production of punch and dies]
B2. State of the Punches at the Beginning of 1859 Die Production
[text]
B3. Obverse Punch
[text]
B2. State of the Punches at the Beginning of 1859 Die Production
[text]
B3. Obverse Punch
[text]
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Photo 4726A
Broken A in Regina |
B4. Reverse Punch
[text]
The Turner Provincial Cent Leaf Numbering System
[text]
[text]
 Narrow Gap In Vine Loop 7
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Photo 47
Broken Stem 6 |
a
C. Continued Punch Deterioration During Die Production
[text]
C1. Vine Loop 7 Gap Widening
[text]
[text]
C1. Vine Loop 7 Gap Widening
[text]
 Narrow Gap
 Medium Gap (early)
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 Wide Gap
 Medium Gap (Late)
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C2. Vine Loop 2 & Stem 10 Breakage
[text]
[text]
 Original Loop 2
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Photo 47
Broken Loop 2 |
[text]
 Original Stem 10
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Photo 47
Broken Stem 10 |
C3. Timeline of 185- Cent Reverse Punch Deterioration
[text]
D. Die Finishing and Defect Repair
D1. Re-punching Letters and Numerals
[text]
D2. Minor Re-punches
[text]
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Photo 4732B
DEI |
Photo 4726B
REGINA |
D3. Major Re-punches
[text]
[text]
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Photo 4744
ONE |
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Photo 4727
REGINA Photo 4734
CANADA |
Photo 4693
DEI Photo 4728
GRATIA |
D4. Repair of Vine Loop 7 and Stem 8
[text]
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Photo 47
Vine Loop 7 |
Photo 47
Stem 8 |
D5. Repair of Stem 9
[text]
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Photo 47
Finely-repaired (with one fine slip on midvein) Photo 47
Repaired with Two slips |
 Repaired with “kink”
in stem (& one slip) Photo 47
Heavily-Repaired with two large slips |
D6. Repair of Stem 10
[text]
 Original Stem 10
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 Repaired Stem 10
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D7. Repair of Vine Loop 2
[text]
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Photo 47
Partially-Repaired Loop Photo 4737
Fully-Repaired Loop (Thick) |
Photo 4680
Fully-Repaired Loop (Thin) Photo 47
Fully-Repaired Loop (Thick, crude) |
D8. Errors in Finishing the Die Surface
[text]
D9. File Marks
[text]
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Photo 47
File Marks O in ONE |
Photo 47
File Marks Near Rim |
D10. Overpolishing
[text]
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Photo 47
Normal Leaf 2 Photo 47
Normal Leaf 6 |
Photo 47
Leaf 2 in Overpolished Die Photo 47
Leaf 6 in Overpolished Die |
E. Die Changes With Storage or Use
[text]
E1. Die Rust Marks
[text]
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Photo 47
Rust Marks on the Queens Neck |
Photo 47
Rust Marks on the N of ONE |
E2. Die Breaks (Cracks)
[text]
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Photo 4730
Radial die break |
Photo 47
Circular die break |
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Progression of a die break with continued die use
[text]
[text]
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Photo 4720
Planchet crack |
Photo 4742B
Planchet lamination |
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Photo 47
Portrait profile on reverse |
 Queen's ear opening on reverse
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Photo 47 Obverse letters in reverse wreath
Multiple impressions of reverse wreath in obverse legend
E4. Die Chips & Misc. Gouges
[text]
E4. Die Chips & Misc. Gouges
[text]
 Bridge between G and beaded circle
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Photo 47
Diagonal gouge near Leaf 2 |
E5. Die Collapses
[text]
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Photo 47 Large collapse near CENT
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Photo 47 xxx xxx
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E6. Die Wear
[text]
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Photo 47
Re-punched D in lightly worn die |
Photo 47
Re-punched D in heavily worn die |
Photo 47 Distortion of obverse field
E7. Die Clogs
[text]
E7. Die Clogs
[text]
 Clogged legend and beaded circle
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Photo 47
Clogged legend & beaded circle |
F. Replacement of Dies
[text]
[scheme showing a sequence of die changes]
G. The Haxby System for the Attribution of the 1859 Dies
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G1. Grouping the Reverse Dies
[text]
[Reverse Group Sorting Scheme]
G2. Sorting the Obverses
[text]
G3. Sorting the Reverses
[text]
G4. Die States
[text]