I noticed this mark on one of my 1893 Columbian halves. It has a dagger shape and at first it looked like a scratch, but it's as if the scratch was made and filled in. That may be consistent with how there's no gouged out area visible, and how there's a scratch on the "O" itself. This theory sounds very specific and relatively complex, but that would be my preliminary guess. Or, is it a die crack or die scratch? Maybe the die was scratched and filled in, then used to strike this coin (?). I'm trying to think of how it came to be. Both sides of the coin have a strong cartwheel luster. Thanks in advance!
That's a tough one. The "mark" looks raised on the coin. I've seen plenty of these coins and never noticed this characteristic. Since the color of the mark matches the surface around it, it looks like part of the coin. I was going to ask you to poke it as It should come off but I see it is in a slab. Sent it to Ken Potter and ask what he thinks. IMO, it may be a die gouge (3%), a tiny lamination (1%), or debris (96%).
When you say debris, do you mean a piece of debris struck into the coin ? Or a piece of debris just on the coin, one that got there post strike in other words ? The former, I could buy into that, that latter, don't think so.
Yeah I don't think it's loose debris either. I gave the coin a several days long acetone bath prior to submission. Close-up inspections with a 10x loupe reveal the area in question to be physically / permanently attached just as any other part of the coin.
Agreed. Maybe a little slice of something delaminated from a previous planchet? It would then look just like the metal of the coin it was embedded into.
Here are some USB microscope pics - the neat thing is that it looks like a dagger / sword / Bowie knife "privy" mark! I think I may have to submit this again later on, but this time to NGC as a Mint Error and see what they have to say.
Mr. SD is correct. Better image shows this is a one-time piece of metal debris that was struck into the coin. Note the tiny little notch-like void on the top of the letter at one end of the debris.
The latter images in my opinion are more misleading than the first. I believe it was a complex shallow die crack that resulted in a small section/chip falling out, In his 2nd and third original photos you can follow the wavey faint line all the way to the equatorial line of the globe. But what do I know, I have never worked for or visited the inner chambers of a TPG, nor do I have secret access to cell phones of such. J/K
When submitting to TPGs, I like to specifically call out the error for the grader to look at. How do I word the error choices? Die struck through error, of a delaminated piece from a different planchet? Planchet piece-filled die crack, similar in vein to a grease-filled die? Or maybe I'm misunderstanding it (?).
To my mind, a strike through either way, but in this instance the thing struck through hung around. It should catch a fingernail dragged across it. So would a die crack, but this shape doesn't lend itself to that diagnosis.
Interesting but this is what makes people think coin collectors are one year short of a complete set.
Maybe it's a piece of a wave or rope from a previously struck planchet. Those parts appear to match the shape and size. If that is the error, then I'm guessing that the delaminated piece would have had to come loose off the die and moved to the "O" of either the coin or die, and struck onto this coin's planchet and stuck via heat and pressure; I guess it would be called a "die struck through & stuck error".
There is enough striking force that any strike-through would be pushed level to the surface of the coin. Lighting and shadowing indicate that this is raised above the surface and looks more like a die gouge than anything else. However, if this were the case one would think it would have been noticed before. Possibly, debris from a previous striking damaged the die with this being the result. If this is the case then there should be others like it.
Sometimes yes, but far from always. With many retained strike-throughs the object remains above the surface of the coin. This because the metal is contained when the planchet is struck. Dies top and bottom and collar all the way around. Now then, if strike pressure is great enough then some metal might escape. But when it does it always escapes in the form of finning because there is nowhere else it can go. And finning always appears as thin, almost foil like, strips of metal along the corner formed by the rim and edge. And if no finning is present then no metal escaped the dies.
OK, as an update, this came back from NGC as having this Mint Error: Spoiler "Too minor, not recognized"; so it is a mint error, but it's too minor to be labeled as one! It also graded as an MS-61
