1858 Over Inverted Date Half Dime 0

[ldhair]

This is a fun coin. Would love any thoughts you have on this.
Most of these that I have seen, have really bold clash marks on the reverse. I'm thinking this one was struck after a poor die polish job to remove the clash or was a different die used on the reverse? Wondering if it's anything special. Don't see anything about the dies used in Breen or Blythe.

 

[ldhair]

And the reverse.

 

[RWB]

A couple of things can be learned from this. 1. The date was added to a dateless working die. 2. All four digits were punched simultaneously. 3. A 4-digit logo punch was used, or a 3-digit plus 1-digit assembled gang punch was used. (I favor the latter because the last "8" is crooked.) 4. It required more than one blow to enter the date. 5. The inverted partial date shows only the upper-most surface of the date digits. (This explains the crooked base on the inverted date's "1".)

Do these observations extend to other denominations and dates?

Edited November 6, 2021 by RWB

[DWLange]

Inverted dates happened from time to time. Examples include cent varieties dated 1844 and 1851, as well as gold eagles dated 1865-S. Prior to adoption of the four-digit gang punch such mistakes typically were limited to single numerals, an example being found with 1809 half cents that have the 9 over an inverted 9. The 1812 half dollar variety listed in catalogs as 5/2 (in the denomination) is actually 5 over an inverted 5, but getting that recognized continues to be a challenging process.

[RWB]

It's interesting to note that with exception of the 1865-S eagle mentioned by Mr. Lange, inverted date (and similar) die errors occurred during the decades when working dies were made by the Chief Coiner's Department - not the Engraving Department.