Guernsey 1 double 1830

This little copper coin, mintage 1,648,640, is fairly easy to find. It is not expensive (about $5-10) but most samples offered in this price range are in rather poor condition. After purchasing several samples I have realized that some of them are from different dies (which is not unexpected given high mintage number). My analysis is, as far as I know, is the first one, so please take it with a great deal of scepticism! Hope it will be used as a starting point for future studies by collectors who have access to better and more versatile material.

Here I don't discuss a 'dot before date' variety. Please read the main body of my Guernsey coins list.

Obverse side is one with a Guernsey shield, reverse side is one with a date.

Obverse die variations are surprisingly hard to detect, despite many details on the Guernsey shield of arms. I don't see any clear difference in the shield on my coins. I was only able to detect two variations of letter G.

	Obverse A. Lower part of loop of letter G in GUERNSEY terminates with large horizontal serif. This one is more common.
	Obverse A. There is no horizontal serif at lower part of loop of letter G in GUERNSEY. I can't be absolutely sure that this is a die difference. The coin on the photo seems to be weakly struck, but I have another sample which is fully struck but still lacks serif. Unfortunately it is in quite poor condition.

There are several points of identification. Examine the relative position of letters L and E, distance between E and L, outline of upper digit 1. All differences are small and have to be checked at high magnification.

	Reverse 1. Base of E is strictly level with base of L. Outline of upper digit 1 is regular. Top of the lower 1 is slightly sloping.
	Reverse 2. Base of E is noticeably higher than base of L. Outline of upper digit 1 is irregular below top serif. Top of the lower 1 is flat, no slope at all.
	Reverse 3. There's a miniscule dot before date. The dot is very, very small; open high-resolution photo to see it. It is not a defect. I have seen another coin on eBay which also has this dot. Base of E is level with base of L. E is closer to L than in reverse 1. Outline of upper digit 1 is regular. Top of the lower 1 is slightly sloping.
	Reverse 2. Base of E is a little higher than base of L. L is slightly further from E than in reverse 2. Zero is clearly higher than rest of date figures. Upper digit 1 is poorly engraved under top serif. Top of the lower 1 is flat, no slope at all.

I have seven samples and hope to acquire more in the future. Obverse A is paired with all reverses. Obverse B is only paired with reverse 1.

reverse 1 + obverse A

reverse 1 + obverse B

reverse 2 + obverse A

reverse 3 + obverse A

reverse 4 + obverse A