Is anyone able to tell if this is a scratch or die crack for my pictures? I ran my finger across it and it think it’s raised... it’s pretty sharp. I’m still in my first year of coin collecting so I don’t know lol.
Definitely a scratch. A die crack would appear raised and there would be no disturbance to the plating. On your Cent you can see the exposed Zinc under the plating.
Ultra scratch. Die cracks move across the surface of the die like lightning through the sky. How the crack moves is affected by the die's topology, so it will meander and fork as it grows in length. You won't typically see one bisecting a coin straight across like this.
I agree with a scratch. There is a pressure ridge on each side of the incuse/recessed part. Similar to a plow pushing up dirt as it moves through the soil. And not a planchet flaw since any raised area of a planchet would be flattened by the dies during the strike and/or the upturning process.
@Jessica Cioffi one way to check if an area is raised or incused is to run a wooden toothpick over the area. Another is to see if there is "displaced" metal, as yours is. A scratch occurring after the coin leaves the mint is just PMD, but asking never hurts, so good luck in the future. Remember, every member here started as a newbie at some point.
When you see zinc. It should be a scratch. Keep hunting. If it was a crack. It would be a super nice one
