By popular (?) demand, this will be my new quiz format because I want to make lots of friends here: What do we call this characteristic found on many coins that is raised and squiggly at some degree of magnification? It occurs when a die breaks and takes the form of a raised crack on a coin? Insider, 32 minutes ago Edit Report Best Answer
Correct! We called these "die cracks" when I started but modern error collectors prefer "die break" because the "break" that caused the crack happened to the die and not the coin. I think I wrote that correctly.
This type of lines seen on a coin are not die cracks, but the lines caused by a cracked die. They are called Die Cracks which can be a bit confusing to some folk that are not well versed in Numismatic language. This type of error is caused by a defect in the die, a very common error as it is usually caused by the die starting to wear out from use. A cracked die will leave a raised line on surface of a coin. Sometime hair lines that are not noticeable without a loupe. I think they are fun to find. They are sometime use to identify VAM's in the Morgan Dollar series. They do not increase the value of a coin in most cases. Struck with cracked die. 1943 Lincoln cent.
...and they often occur in the same places on coins, for example at the corners of the Lincoln Memorial in the cent coin.
Wait so the die that’s gets stamped onto the coin and the die cracks under a lot of pressure so that get stamped onto the coin?
No. Remember that anything (like the coin's design) sunken into (incuse) the die will produce a raised area on the struck coin, So, when the die breaks it leaves a squiggly hole in the die that planchet metal will fill in the same way that it does to the design and letters.