the top of the 7 in this 1974 Kennedy appears to be splitting or separating. Is this common? (I also photo’d it “upside down” to give another angle. Also the quality of the photos may distort the picture. I apologize but it’s the best I can offer. )
Have you actually seen this before or are you making an assumption? I ask because the coin does not seem to be worn and it appears to me to be an odd place for that to appear. Not challenging, merely asking.
Yes, I’ve seen it before. You have to ask yourself, why would the mint create a die with the corner of the seven worn off? They wouldn’t, it makes zero sense. It’s just worn down. If I’m not mistake, the corner of the seven is a high point.
Well that argument can apply to any error, can’t it? I assume that errors are mistakes. Unfortunately the photos are as good as I can produce but it definitely looks like the coin has split at that point.
If it was a true doubling, it wouldn't just affect one small area, the vertical shaft near where it joins the horizontal you should also see some doubling effect as it is near and also about same angle. IMO, Jim
I’m not calling it doubling. I don’t know if a term exists for this. Don’t know if this helps or hurts my position but I had access to a much more powerful magnifier today and I snapped a couple of pictures. One top up and another on its side. I’m sorry but it looks like the number has split. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong and I apologize.
Its not wrong to be wrong I thought you were referring to split used as in split serifs of die doubling, rather that split as in cutting. Sorry , Jim
The "split serif" term is correlated to Doubled Die or RPMs. So, yes you are calling it doubled. It does look like a notch though. here's an interesting thread about split serifs on a half dollar here ==> https://www.cointalk.com/threads/2005-kennedy-silver-proof-error.8738/
To me this looks like it was minted from a worn die. It would be extremely rare and odd for one coin to be splitting in one exact place. The odds would be astronomical but the value would be low. It just appears that it is splitting. The coin is not worn but the Die in that area was worn.
I took it to a coin shop yesterday where they have an employee that is extremely knowledgeable about coins and errors. He agreed it IS splitting and also spotted 2 other areas on that coin that I missed. He agreed it was a weakened die