Hello. I found a few coins today and this penny has a strange weld like mark on Lincoln's head. This is not a scratch and it is raised. I tried to zoom in and take the best pics I could of it. Let me know what you think. Thanks for your opinions!
Not sure about the possible crack/die break. Is that thing off center or is that just the way it looks through the magnification? I don't see the LIB or WE TRUST. Oh, I see now. It has one of those round extra magnification glasses. Sorry.
Yeah, sorry about the pic quality. Nothing else on this penny seems out of ordinary except for that mark on top. Have any ideas jay?
Definitely not a die crack. Die cracks are erratic...this is not. That being said, I'm not sure what it is. It could be damage, or it could be a lamination error.
Die crack A die crack occurs when a die, after being subjected to immense pressure during the minting process, cracks, causing a small gap in the die.[3] If this damaged die cointinues to produce coins, the metal will fill into the crack, thus revealing a raised line of metal in the finished coin. Specimens with more prominent die cracks can command a high premium and are valued greatly by some collectors.[4] However, less obvious errors are quite common, especially in the 50 States Commemorative Quarter Program, yielding a lower value.[5]Die crack: Below sourced from Susan Headly "What is a Die Crack" Coins and Collecting.
I know what a die crack is. But have you ever seen a crack in the sidewalk? It isn't a line like this. It is erratic, zig-zaggy, and generally thin.
Look again...that's just the effect of the magnifying glass. It has one large lens, with a smaller lens in it.
This is the exact reason coin 'searchers' got to buy a microscope. I was hesitant, but way worth the time and money..I like the coin but needs better pics.
PHP: This is not a deep gouge! It is very raised! It may look like a gouge in the pic but I assure it isn't. You can feel the raise.
I can see the raised metal. Metal that was raised from the deep gouge and the object that hit the coin at an oblique angle. The damage where the object scraped across the coin is also clearly visible below the gouge.
What it looks like is much like a plowed furrow with a ditch (or gouge) in the center and raised material on both sides. I am not seeing it in-hand, but from the photo.