Now I see it clearly. even up until our Colonial era, trying to fit the design on coinage was
apparently a challenge. I really like the Massachusetts Silver issues that have backwards letters, misspellings etc.
(this continued up to 19th century button backmarks and apoth weights, the city 'Philadelphia' is often found with strange contractions and incorrect spelling, Philed, Fila, Filad and on)
Though diecutters were skilled artisans, they weren't necessarily literate, not much reading or writing was needed by most
of the population, signatures were often just endorsed with your 'mark'
Nice hearing from you, I still chuckle about our messages concerning my beginners luck Ducat.
Those were heady times, what a site for a new detectorist to stumble upon.. Best wishes & HH