Let me start by saying that this is not a medical condition, at least not one that I have, more of an issue differentiating a subtle change in the design of Pennies issued during king George V’s reign.
A number of years have what is classed as a normal reverse and a modified reverse, the latter with this recessed ear. The books speculate that this could have been a result of an attempt to reduce ghosting on these coins. The books also state that the recessed ear is usually found in conjunction with a broken tooth above the colon after BRITT and before OMN.
The coin in image 1 has the one clue that would lean on it being a recessed ear example. The ear in question is this one:
At the moment my coins are too warn to glean any useful information on as to whether or not they are the normal or recessed ear variant. I will continue in my pursuit of an answer and will report back here if I find out any new information.
