Some sort of a strike through would be my first guess just from the picture. Being an O mint maybe just die wear? Very odd looking whatever it is.
I once had a similar coin with a depression in the lower breast, though it was almost perfectly round. I just assumed it was something to do with the planchet or weak strike. Called it my hungry eagle Morgan. I sold it, kind of regret it.
Much betterer. This isn't the *worst* of New Orleans strikes, but it looks to me like a planchet void of some sort, surrounded by raw metal which didn't strike up at all, perhaps influenced by the void preventing appropriate planchet metal migration.
I like the theory. But if it was a void would it not have a similar look as the surrounding raw metal? That's kind of what made me think of a possible strike through of some sort. The frost is the same as the struck areas of the coin. It's just odd. But in a good way to me.
I'll wait until 5:00 pm Pacific to post the reveal. Let a few others chime in that may not have had the chance to guess.
Well, the thorniest line of thought I'm having about it is, "Where did the frost come from if a die never contacted it?" Still in Theory Mode™.
And the reveal. The contrast in the lighting really makes these look baggier than they really are. Personally I think they are both about a point under graded, but I have them to examine in hand. I'm going to include both of these in my submission to CAC to see what John say's about them.