numidan

I got the idea when I was reading that Griffin, a Canadian coin author, was using a projection system on a white board and with a grid system, was cataloging the different dies. I just modernized it With the precision of die making today, I think you need to go this small to find different dies used. Do not worry, I will not present everything I find interesting and flood this forum

In fact, I am using a digital microscope, that I built. It is based on the following telescope project. The optics comes from an old logitech handheld scanner (puchased at flea market) and the body from a microscope toy found in garage sale. It has its strengths and weaknesses but I love it. I can compare, in real time, about 30 to 40 coins in one hour. http://ghonis2.ho8.com/lifecam/lifecam1.html

No, not at all. Observe the SHAPE of the 0 on your pair of coins, in relation to the shape of the 0 on the lower pair. Unlike the 1 and the 9, there is a difference - as I said, the 0 is smaller and squatter (more round and less oval), and slightly further from the teeth proportionately. (This may be exaggerated by the fact that the coins in the top pair have some wear, where the bottom pair don't. But even so, there seems to be a difference. What would really help is if your system of blue and red lines was used on the bottom pair also). This is the best I could do with the picture Seuk presented. I reduced the width of top pair and increased its height. I added the red and blue lines as requested. I also added the white lines to compare the distances of the 0. One thing that I did observe though, the denticles for the bottom pair seems longer and therefore the 0 seems to be closer on the bottom pair compaired to top pair. This may be attributed to the blury pictures used for the bottom pair and the merging process (which I could not have done better ).

Thank you Seuk, that is exactly what I observed when I merged them and decided to post the images. For it to be perfect, the picture of the top pair is just a little larger than the picture of the bottom pair. That might be what is confusing Peckris

Here is a close up of the 4s. I do not think that the PMD affected the size that much

Thank you for the responses. Yes. The lots of coins I purchase are mostly low grade coins. Being a variety seeker, this does not bother me. Thus, I make sure that differences are not caused by post mint damages and significant enough to be keeped. When I can not find information on it on the web, I post it. The pictures that I post can be used so others can come up with their own conclusion. The sample I have for 1940 is 30 coins so I do not think this is rare unless I am very lucky. Hope someone else finds one ... happy hunting.

Coinery, thank you for the information. I am a Canadian and got a lot of UK pennies by error. Being a variety collector, I decided to put together an album of dates and popular varieties listed online and in GB book. This site seemed a good place to get information on my findings for the 40’s. Happy to see it is listed. Is there a more recent list available online? Azda, it depends on how much interest collectors gives it. When it is easily identifiable, scarce but mot to the point that only a few exists, often the demand will surpass the offer. Only time will tell. As an added note, if you do a comparative study between 1940 and 1944, my gut feeling tells me that the wide date variety was produced from a master die used for the 1940 where just the 4 was added to the 194 master die and the normal 1944 date, both 4s were added to the 19 master die. I do not know enough on UK coin production to be certain.