As I looked at this through a loupe it looked to be scratch. Today I received my cheap USB microscope in the mail. So I'm messing around with it trying this and that and the scratch caught my eye again. What gets me is the line follows over and on the side of the O. looking again through the loupe, the line looks raised on the O. I'll post the pics and see if anyone with a keener eye can shed some light. That is if the pics are good enough? Thanks.
At this hour, from these 2 pictures, it looks like a scratch but it's difficult to tell because of the MD.
Now that you mention it - it looks like a doubled die to me. What is the date and mint? Nice photo but the coin is not turned. Take a photo with the top of the coin to the right so we need to turn our head to see the coin right side up. In the new photo, it looks like a die crack. Don't worry, we'll all get it right. eventually. So far I'm 98% scratch.
To @Insider one of the photos I took with the coin turned 180 then rotated. The coin itself is a 1971D FEV DDO/DDR that I posted before but took a second look at the scratch. If anything it was an excuse to post pics from the scope. View attachment 515028 Thanks All!
It's obviously the DDO recorded at Variety Vista for the date, and sure looks like a die crack to me. Might be worth striking up a conversation with Dr. Wiles, because this one would alter the definition of "late die stage" for the DDO - the LDS shown on the detail page has no crack.
Hey all, when one focuses on the line from the O going north it really looks like a scratch, sorry to bug you all about it. When I finally found a FEV, I was pumped. Then to get it home and find thats a DDO/DDR(my first DD ever) I was really pumped. I've been going back to this coin looking at it, I need to set it aside and look at something else. Thanks again
It could well be a scratch - looks a bit more like it in the second set of images - so have a close look for displaced metal. A die crack will only show displaced metal right down the exact center of the crack.
Hard to say in one set of images it looks raised up off the coins surface on the other set of images it looks like a scratch.