um, these springs do look very much alike and I guess it could be reasonably assumed that Cherry corp is into saving money by using one spring for two different tactile switches... But since spring actions often depends more on the actual spring wire used than the number of coils, it would probably be the definitive end to all guesswork if one could take a photo of the spring being compressed (or extended, if that's easier to accomplish) by a known force, with a readable ruler right next to it. Those are linear springs (as can be told by the regular intervals between coils) and thus one point in the force-compression or force-extension diagram would be enough to see if they are identical.
Which, by the way, brings me to another question... Question thread following.
Chris