This is a 1946 s with the outline of lincoln on the reverse. No obvious damage to either side. Was it just struck harder than normal.
It is called die erosion. You need to read the article by Mike Diamond in the June 7 edition of "Coin World" page 222. Funny, but the example he used was also a 1946-S Lincoln.
Is that a newstand available mag? I guess I need to subscribe if I am getting back into the hobby. Actually, the metal detecting hobby and coin collecting go hand in hand. Thanks for the info on that.
Yes the cause for that is a weak die , die erosion would be the proper terminology on this specimen. Gus
thanks Thanks for the link. Interesting. If it is true ghosting, shouldn't that machine have produced many thousands of the ghosted coins? What changed with this particular set of dies that caused this and was it caught in time to limit the mintage to make it rare or scarce. Probably wouldn't matter to anyone but an error collector. Going now to make a picture of the obverse.
I found them online. I am going to check the drug store, I don't know if a new subscriber would get the June issue, so if it is not in the store, I will call them about back issue and subscription. Thanks for the info. That must have been dumb luck to be in a magazine and I have wundered about it for 40 years.
I subscribed online and read the article. Very informative. NOT classified as an error. Thanks again for the info.
I have hundreds of those in all wheat years.. seems pretty common for certain wheats. Specifically B/U examples. I even have a 1909 with it.
So do I. In BU specimens it's probably harder to find a Wheat Reverse without this shadowing or "ghosting" effect than it is to find one with it. It's so subtle that it's hard to pick up on BN and circulated examples, but on BU examples the shadowing is very evident in the luster. If you look at it under magnification you will not see a definitive demarcation line like you would with a die clash, you just pick up the shadowing as you rotate the coin and observe the reflected light. I suppose it could possibly have something to do with deteriorated master hubs, but I think it has much more to do with metal flow into the obverse of the coin which had a much higher relief than the reverse.
The article in coin world described it as more metal being displaced on the obverse than the reverse. The large memorial on the later reverse pretty much eliminated this due to a more equal amount of metal being displaced. Good article. Quite a coincidence he used a 1946 S as an example in his article. Strange that I had never noticed it on any other coin, but picked it up immediately on this one.
