DIE-ABRASION IKE DIE-STATE CLAD “PEG LEGS” and “CLIPPED E”

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DIE-ABRASION IKE DIE-STATE CLAD “PEG LEGS” and “CLIPPED E”

The IKE GROUP invites you to click this link, A SURVEY OF IKE PEG LEGS for a light-hearted but thorough review of all the peg leg Ikes. It’s a twenty page article so we present below a much abbreviated account. The “Clipped E” story follows at the end.

“Peg leg” refers to the left leg (our left) of the “R” of the obverse “LIBERTY”. Gone are the “serifs”, the pointed lateral extensions on either side of the base of the left leg which is also shortened some. Here are two SB Ikes, a 1971-S and a 1972-S to serve as idealized models:

SERIF-R (common or normal R) PEG LEG R (1972-S SB DESIGN PEG LEG)

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The CuNi-Clad die-state peg leg Ikes

This category includes all the circulation Ike peg legs (except the unabraded Bicentennial Type I Design Variety (intentional) Peg Leg). They are listed on the DIVA ATTRIBUTION REPORT form and include all the circulation Ikes except 1971, 1973 and 1974 (we have found a 1977 and 1978 peg leg).

These peg legs are all the result of heavy die abrasion used to erase the clash images of the tops of the two L’s of DOLLAR on either side of the left leg of the R. In this process, the field of the die overlaying the serif-R is abraded away. Here’s what you want to visualize: the devices (design features) on a coin closest to the field of that coin will be the features on the die closest to the field of that die. In this case, the serifs arise from the field of the coin and therefore are the most superficial on the die and the first to be removed with die abrasion. This is not easy to visualize!

When you tilt one of these peg legs into the light you will notice that the field under the left leg of the R comes up toward you in a curve. On the die, this curve would fall away from you due to the heavy die abrading.

Die field curving up under the left peg leg. Note the heavy coarse die abrasion lines:

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Here are some representative circulation peg legs (with a few twists):

1972-D 1976-D Type-2 1974-D 1976-D Type-1

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The 1972-D is the most common circulation Ike die-state peg leg.

The 1976-D Type-2 is also quite common, also due to die abrasion but in this case the abrasion is quite wide-spread and not much modification of the die field was required to remove the very modest serifs on the Bicentennial Type-2 design.

The 1974-D is called the “Major peg leg” because the leg is quite foreshortened and wants to fade into the field. Note that it flares toward the foot (“Redwood Tree”) but has no serifs.

The 1976-D Type-1 is called the “Off at the Knees” peg leg (OK peg leg). In this case the original design is a Design Peg Leg but die abrading severely undercut that Peg Leg.

OK, you have the general idea. When it comes to attributing die state peg legs, there are some subtle considerations. As you can read from the link at the top of this piece and see in the 1974-D Major peg leg, a peg leg may have a “Redwood tree” shape, or it may be more rectangular or rounded or fading. The single key attribution criterion is the absence of pointed lateral extensions off the foot of the R. Let’s look at a silver proof (SP) or two to bring this point home:

1974-S SP 1976-S Type-2 SP 1974-S SP

The photo on the left is a Design Variety 1974-S SP Eskimo Boot Peg Leg (EBPL). Pretty thing, quite scarce. The rounded right foot (our right) is not a serif.

The middle photo is a 1976-S Type-2 SP in “Early Die State” with paper-thin silver still connecting the right side of the foot with the right ankle or the leg. By definition this is a peg leg design that is quite similar to the 1974-S EBPL. The rounded extension of the right foot does not constitute a “serif”. Curiously, in older die states and upon proof die re-treatment to maintain cameo contrast, the thin connection of right foot with right leg disappears and then the right foot takes on such a prominent protuberance that it becomes a round serif.

The right-hand photo is a heavily proof-die retreated die-polished 1974-S SP: it has the same rounded right foot but the tiny sharp serif off the left side of the foot keeps it from being a die-state peg leg.

As you can probably guess, there are die-polish die-state peg legs and the EBPL Design to be found on both ’74-S SP’s and CP’s.

THE “CLIPPED E”

The Clipped E is another die abrasion image. Until a few months ago there were a number of theories circulating to explain the heavy abrading of the top arm of the E, abrading sufficient to thin and shorten the arm considerably. One such theory was relief of die strain. Let’s look at three examples before revealing the precise etiology.

Here are some three Clipped E’s:

NORMAL “E”

The bottom of the top arm of the normal “E” of “WE” is just a hair shorter than the top of the bottom arm and it’s the same shape and a hair longer than the middle arm.

As you can see from the three photographs below the normal E, the upper arm of the E in all three has lost its original configuration and is shorter than the bottom arm.

The left hand photo is the minimum change in length and configuration for “Clipped E” attribution. If we used GRADE A, B and C for Clipped E’s, the left hand photo would be GRADE C and the other two would be GRADE A.

So what does trigger the die abrading that produces the Clipped E? Check this out:

Abrading the “Upside Down U” (UDU) in the hands of some die setters also took out part of the upper arm of the E! Mystery solved.