Kennedy Half Dollar , looks like a D mintmark on the middle of neck!

I dont know about this , but it looks like the D mintmark in on his neck!

 

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Unfortunately from those pictures it's going to be hard what caused the mark on the neck. Any chance of getting a close up of the mark?

 

Looks to be incuse which would rule out a mint mark i would think.

 

I tired to get closer with my camera , ill try the other camera to see if it has a micro function...

Heres 2 better pics.

 

What is incuse?

 

Incuse meaning the supposed "D" in stamped into the neck as opposed to raised like a normal mint mark. I'm confused the first coin shows no clips and the second has 2 what's going on?

 

thats his fingers.

 

Wow, i need to put my glasses back on!

 

Pmd

 

Could be a dropped mintmark. If that's the case that would be a VERY cool find. Let's hope Mike Diamond will pop in and give his expert opinion.

For those that don't know, a dropped mintmark (or a dropped letter) occurs when grease fills the letter in the die and becomes hardened after numerous strikes. Eventually the hardened grease falls out of the die and if it lands on the planchet or the anvil die it (the dropped letter) will be pressed into the coin when the planchet is struck making an incuse letter. Very cool and very rare.

 

question: Would that be possible using a die without a mint mark, such as the case with this half without a mintmark?

 

The dropped letter could have come from any letter that had gotten clogged with grease (e.g., the 'D' in 'GOD'. It could not have come from a 'D' mintmark because the coin in question was struck in Philadelphia, not Denver.

 

Yeah, i knew it couldn't be the mintmark because like you said it was minted in PA...That and the fact the "D" on the neck appears to be smaller than the one in "GOD" was what made me ask.

 

Ok I didnt think about the issue with the Ds not having anything to begin with.....Would some prankster have been able to make that somehow just fooling around...?

Also if a mint mark in the old days was by hammering a P or a S or whatever on the coin how can that make raised areas? If you took something and chizzled something into something it would go deeper not raise a area? Im not sure how someone putting a stamp on coins by hands would make them that way?

 

Mintmarks were hand-punched into the working dies, not the individual coins. (That would be a monumental task - hand-punching mintmarks into individual coins. With some mintages well over 1 billion it would be an impossible task.)

Think about it - a mintmark punched into the working die is incuse. When that die strikes a coin the mintmark will be raised.

 

Ok Well hopefully Mike Diamond will take a look, as I think this might be a great find, as It looks way to precise to be some type of a accident or mishandling ect.

 

There are a couple of threads that talk about the die engraving process, but basically; an engraved portion of a die leaves a corresponding raised area on the planchet when the stamping takes place. If there is an "incluse" or indented area, it can only be caused by added material on the die. A chip of metal, generally that does not become fused on the coin when stamped (CUD).

I think this coin was damaged by a metal fragment that simply fell away when the coin came out of the press. IMHO

gary

 

Pretty Cool Find!
Steve