This is a typical monthly Special Assay report for November 1880, Philadelphia Mint. The delay from November to February was not unusual. Notice the variations in weight and fineness. It was commonplace for assays of the same samples to differ by 0.001+/- even with multiple tests - routine assays were simply not as repeatably accurate as Mint officials liked to publicly state.
Typical monthly Special Assay report - Nov. 1880
Re: Typical monthly Special Assay report - Nov. 1880
PS: Coins were not supposed to be released until after the report was received. But occasionally this rule was violated.