Hello everyone, Now two days ago I was going trough some 10 kronur pieces from 1996 after seeing a coin on ebay stating that it had a bridge betwene the 00. As I collect error coins from Iceland I took a look at my pocket change and saw that the one I had from 2006 had the same bridge. I went home and used my microscope and 56 out of 59 had some kind of variation. These seem to range from the beginning of the problem with the stamp and untill it´s starts to really show. I would like to see your thought on this. I´m thinking that they overheated the metal in the date stamp and it chipped away like this with time. Here are some pictures of differnet coins from my jar of coins at home. Best regards Siggi Palma
Most or all of these lumps appear to be die chips. On a totally separate matter, since you're a collector of Icelandic errors, would you be able to tell me which die (obverse or reverse) is used as the hammer die? Short of that, would you have any photos of off-center Icelandic coins? Thanks.
Hello Mike and thank you for your input. Regarding the hammer I am actually not perfectly sure but I would guess the obverse. Even with my collection of error coins I dont own one that is off center.
Hi, I have one like yours, but the bridge is between 0 and 6. Also the letter A is abnormal. edited - please don't post personal info
From the prevalence of OPs finds across multiple years, it appears as though the Icelandic mint isn't properly hardening their dies. Either not hot enough, too hot or improper quenching. You want it harder than the blanks, but not brittle. You've also nicely nailed the progressive nature of these. No die ever gets BETTER unless it's removed from service, polished and reworked (and hopefully rehardened, properly )