Double die with strange metal flow

I'm not really an error guy so I would like some opinions on this 1988-p dime. Under 10x it is clearly doubled but the odd part is the center is clear and the outer half of the coin shows flow lines.I hope I'm not making some sort of rookie mistake looking at this.The obverse doesn't show any real defect so I don't really know what I'm looking at.Thanks for your input.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Looks like a severely worn die to me...

 

Yep, die deterioration doubling.

 

Thanks guys, that would not have occurred to me. I'm a little surprised that the mint would let it get this bad before they replace the dies.

 

additional close-up

 

That's a pretty extreme example. Cool looking.

 

When a coin is struck the metal flows radially along the surface of the dies from the center of the coin to the collar. More metal flows near the edge of the coin than near the center so the dies wear more near the edge than the center. (It is somewhat more complicated than that but that is essentially what happens.)

 

I've seen worse in the Kennedy series.

 

I've seen worse on 1983 nickels.