1946 LWC Post-Strike Mint Damage

I recently acquired this 1946 LWC. I got it because of the damage I noticed on the coin, and its condition. This coin only has a very few minor bag marks. It still has enough luster that I would place it in the middle of the Red Brown scale. I can see a bit of finning on the edge near the date, as it has a slight Mis-aligned Die Strike on the Obverse. Which tells me this is an uncirculated coin. The “46” of the date is visibly less pronounced then the “19”.

The real interesting part is the damage to both sides. This coin was in a pinch situation. The marks on the obverse show it having been hit on both edges and in the middle with a force that was moving in a bottom to top direction. There are marks on Abe’s ear, cheek and eyebrow. On the reverse the marks are contained to the edges only. Again the force was moving in a bottom to top direction. Which dictates that the two forces were working in opposite directions.

I am certain that the “Pinch” was caused from the Feeding Fingers on a Mint Coin Press. As this coin came out of the Collar of the press it stuck, the collar did not fully deploy into its downward position. Which caused this coin to be pinched between the collar and the feeding fingers that were bringing in the next planchet to be to be struck. And this all happened in a fraction of a second.

If you go to Errors-ref.com and look at the master list and go to Part IX. Post-Strike Mint Damage it will fall under the category of Other, [folded, crushed, scraped, bent, etc.] Which indicate to me that coins such as this are not commonly found in the public sector. This coin was made in an era that had multiple people sitting astride conveyor belts searching and picking out the damaged coins. I don’t know if this practice is still employed in today’s mint.

I would be interested in hearing any information anyone might have on coins such as this or the like. And I will try to answer any questions to the best of my ability. Thank you for taking the time to read my description and rambling.

 

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Looks more like someone with a pair of clippers.

 

I'll bet I can make one of those.

 

You're right, that coin was pinched, not with finger feeders, but with a tool such as this:

 

Thank you for your offer. Please do, and post your results so I can compare.

 

It's interesting that the cut next to TRUST is only on the obverse.
The cuts above LIBERTY look like wire cutters caused them.

 

On the reverse of trust is a scrape where part of the coin has been sheared away.
At the bottom of the right wheat ear. The notches by liberty do not line up like a pinch with wire cutters. Thank you for taking the time to notice.

 

Have you ever set a spark plug gap with a flat Feeler Gauge? That's what Feeder Fingers look like, only a bit thicker. They're incapable of creating damage such as this. Look up feed finger marks on Morgan Dollars to see what they do to a die - they abrade it due to metal-on-metal contact, no "gouging" involved.

There is, however, a smashed spot on the reverse rim at 5:00 where the pressure which created the obverse gouge rested itself.

 

It is not a smashed spot. It is a sheared spot where metal has been removed.
I am quite familar with Feeler gauges and tools in general from 30 years of auto and machine maintenance.

 

I'll stick with PMD. We could guess all day what caused the damage but we will never know.

 

Here is a couple more photos that show the low angle that the coin was struck from. almost parallel with the surface of the coin. Not from a 90 degree angle like a pair of wire cutters.

 

I am not talking about feeder fingers hitting the "die" and then leaving marks on the coins. I'm talking about the feeder finger hitting the coin as it is trying to push it out of the way for the next planchet to be loaded into the die striking area.

 

Looks like it has the blankelsy effect( key word looks like). I know that's a term for clipped plantchet, but to me if something was wrong with he plantchet, as it goes through to be cut for the edge, I imagine that bump would be just like a clip. You might even notice a slice through the affected area of the bump ( the way I see it in my minds eye) I would say yes this was damaged before struck. But then again I know I am probably the least knowledgeable out of this group, and really don't know what I am talking bout. But it makes sense to me.

 

Post-Strike Mint Damage = Damage occurred after it was struck, but before it left the mint.
Post Mint Damage = Damage occurred after it left the mint

This coin was damaged after it was struck, but before it left the coin press.

 

This is what feeding fingers look like. I'm trying to figure out how they could create the damage on this coin.

 

More truthful words have never been written.

 

@Fred Weinberg is the man to ask. I'll bet he can help.

 

You missed my point. If it takes the finger literal thousands of rubs to create a visible artifact on a die, how's it going to destroy a coin with one hit? It makes no sense.

 

Its damaged, and is not
a Mint Error coin of any type.

 

My coin is not destoyed, it has damage. apart from that damage I would say it could grade in a low MS.
I tried to explain this the best I could in paragraph 3 of my post.
The fingers move forward and backward under the die. As a new planchet is being bought in between the Dies to be pressed, the fingers push the freshly pressed coin out of the way. Here is a video coin making in 1940. skip to min 8:10.