"close 3" or "closed 3", was struck first. These coins led to a complaint by the chief coiner, A. Loudon Snowden, to Pollock, who was again director of the Mint. Snowden stated that the numeral "3" in the date too closely resembled an "8". The Mint prepared new date punches, in which the arms of the 3 did not curl around toward the center, creating the second variety, the "open 3". The final year of production saw an overdate, 1883/2, with a visible "2" under or near the digit "3". This variety was caused by the use of 1882-dated dies which were not destroyed at the end of the year, but were instead repunched with a four-digit logotype, "1883". Five different dies are known to have been so reused, and Bowers estimates a mintage of 118,975 pieces. Spindel estimates that only 0.2%–0.3% of the pieces have survived to the present. Replacement The 1867 redesign of the reverse had not solved the problems of short die life and poor striking; with a view to a redesign, pattern coins were struck in 1868 and 1871, but the Shield nickel remained in production. Charles E. Barber became chief engraver in 1880, and the following year was asked to produce uniform designs for the nickel, the three-cent piece, and a proposed copper-nickel cent. While the redesign of the two lower denominations did not occur, in 1882, Barber's design for the nickel, with the head of the goddess of Liberty on the obverse and the Roman numeral "V" on the reverse, was approved. The following year the Barber design replaced the Shield nickel. The Barber design was first struck on Jan. 30, 1883 and placed in circulation Feb. 1, 1883. Mint officials desired to discourage hoarding and speculation of 1883 proof Shield nickels, and received permission on Feb. 6, 1883 to continue production of proof Shield nickels concurrent with proofs of the new Liberty Head nickel. Proof Shield nickels continued to be struck until June 26, 1883 when the last 1500 proof shield nickels were produced. Mintages Shield nickel proof mintages from before 1878 are modern estimates and may vary—for example, Bowers estimates 800–1,200 for the 1866 piece, while Peters estimates 375+. The issue is complicated by the fact that restrikes were made of proofs, sometimes years after the inscribed date. Mint officials, despite what Bowers terms "official denials ( lies)", reused dies which had