These two CD 106 Hemis nearly jumped off the shelf at me when I saw them in the junque shoppe. Smooth bases?!? They're mold twins with EIN sim. [120] or [130] (F‑Skirt) HEMINGRAY‑9 (R‑Skirt) MADE IN U.S.A. but these appear to be SB. A close look at the bases shows that the drip points (can't tell if sharp or round) were either worn down (they do not look like they've been ground) or they were flattened during manufacture. I'd be more inclined to think this was a "one-off" if it was only a single piece, but here are two, and as noted, they're mold twins. Was this intentional? Anyone else seen this?

With apologies to Jack S. (and ICON) here's an update--but still no real answer, except that these appear to be manufactured that way (intentional or not):

Brent B. wrote:

Through the 70's - 90's I found several (much earlier) examples of 9's (Prismic emb'd) with the drips ground off/down. I considered them tampered with junk, but as I found them on lines, and one, then another, and later another, etc., I began to wonder what exactly had gone on there. All were sh*t aqua and Block Letter Prismic. When I found the last one in the 90's, I kept it, and still have it today. No answers, but I have my own version of this mystery.

Kim B. said:

Yes, these pop up every so often. Kind of a weird puppy since it's stamped embossing. I also have a twin of it in CD 121. Maybe somebody forgot to put the drip point base in mold after lunch one day? They had to fix it one day but kept production going? I can come up with lots of theories…

Anyone else?