1907 Indian Head Cent Repunched Date FS-303 Snow-20

Description

Among the final issues of James Barton Longacre's iconic Indian Head Cent series, this 1907 specimen carries the Fivaz-Stanton designation FS-303 and Rick Snow catalog number Snow-20, confirming its place in two of the most authoritative attribution references for the series. The repunched date shows the original digits 190 punched southeast of the final date position, with the southeast shift of those first three digits serving as the primary diagnostic for identifying this working die. Repunched dates on Indian Head Cents arose from the manual date application process at the Philadelphia Mint, where a four-digit date logotype was hammered by hand into each working die — an inherently imprecise procedure that frequently required repositioning and a second strike to achieve proper placement, with the remnant of the initial impression remaining visible beneath the corrective final punch. Beyond the repunched date, this die is also documented as producing a strike-through error on some specimens, demonstrating that the same working die experienced multiple distinct anomaly types during its service life — a convergence that provides collectors with the opportunity to assemble a die-study set tracking different defect events from a single die. The Indian Head Cent was struck at the Philadelphia Mint, the only operating facility producing these coins, in bronze composition (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc) weighing 3.11 grams with a diameter of 19.05 mm. The 1907 date is part of the series' late period (1859-1909), just two years before the Lincoln Cent replaced it. Collectors should examine the date area under 7x to 10x magnification, focusing on the lower portions of the 1, 9, and 0 where the southeast-displaced secondary impressions are most visible against the primary date placement.

Attribution History

• FS-303, Snow-20