Q: Just how common is it to find re-punched numbers in dates (J-235 has an obvious repunched one & eight) and repunched letters in the scroll (J-742/8-54) "In God We Trust" on halves of 1869? Vic Annaloro #15 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A: Vic, I don't think anyone has really studied this. There are numerous examples of patterns with either recut dates or overdates. Examples of this include the following: 1) J1526-J1531 which show recutting as the '1' in the date was started too far to the left. 2) J1533-J1536 where the '8' is punched over the '1' as the date was started too far to the right. 3) J1698-J1699 has the date recut. 4) J1740 is actually an overdate 1885 over 3. I am sure there are many more examples in the pattern series. It doesn't appear that patterns received any special treatment with regard to mint economy - mistakes were over punched the same as with regular issue dies. I hope this is just one of many answers you receive. Saul Teichman #4