Ok before you guys beat me up my pics are not the best. Tell me if you see splits on the top of the sTaTES in the STATES. I will try to borrow my friends camera to see what better pics but these are from my iPhone and actually better than my camera.
Dion- Those pics aren't bad at all. This is not a doubled die. I see this all the time with copper plated zinc cents and although I'm not sure what causes it, it's not from the die. My guess is that it is similar to split-plate doubling that is seen with "Zincolns" and is merely a break in the plating.
I've seen those splits before in the plating but these don't look like the plating splitting JG. I'll admit that I'm the worst at spotting DDs, but usually I see the metal underneath. Here I don't see that, there is a split above the 2nd T. The E in America has it also and no matter what angle I look at the coin it seems as if the plating isn't splitting.
It's definitely not the typical plate-split doubling, but I have to imagine it has something to do with the plating as I never see this on copper cents, but see it all the time on the zinc plated ones. Hopefully Mike Diamond can chime in here and solve this for us as I've always wondered about this.
I will wait to see if MD takes a look, and tomorrow I will try to get a good pic of the entire coin. My friend just got a NEX-5 and they are supposed to be very good with less than optimal lighting. So I will see if I can borrow it for a sec or two. Thanks for looking JG.
The doubling is so slight that it's hard to tell from here whether it's a doubled die or machine doubling. A close exmination under microscope is mandatory.
The pics were taken under the microscope lens but shooting with my iPhone thru the lens is difficult. My neighbor came home to late for me to borrow his camera, so I will try my coworker today or neighbor tonight.
OK I have taken pics from different angles hoping you guys could see what I'm seeing. The lighting is not the best, but on some it is OK. Please remember what you are working with here. LOL
If you can't see it now then tell me what I need to do next. I'm not sure what you see on the pics but I see it clearly thru a microscope.
I would wait for Mike. I don't think he visits daily, but I'm sure he'll pick back up on it. I too want to know what causes this. I know it's not doubling and I have my theories, but I'd like to hear from the expert. My first inclination is that it has to do with the plating since I've only seen it on plated Lincolns, but I've also thought about the possibility of stress fractures in the raised lettering of the hubs.
It's another form of machine doubling. I've seen this many times while searching cents. Very slight die movement during/after the strike that left a mark on some coins. On a doubled die, the devices are enlarged more than a normal coin. Here is a doubled die I found a few years back.:
You guys are confusing me! Coop the pics that say it is MD looks like what I have, but I thought MD was flat which looks like the 2002 D that's listed as a DD! How can I tell when the first pic shows round split letters and the second shows what looks like flat lower leveling?
Machine doubling takes many forms. Depending on how the machine creates it. Here is an example of how machine doubling can vary from strike to strike: This is classic machine doubling. These coins came from a OBW roll and there were several examples to chose from to make the images above. The marker is found in each image so they are all from the same die, just varying machine doubling each strike. There is also what I call ejection doubling that may affect certain areas as the coin leaves the chamber. I was told this is just called machine doubling as the machine caused this to happen. The only area on this coin is on the U of UNUM. Again caused by the machine and not because of the die. The rest of the coins were normal in the roll. Another type is like your coin where the machine doubling only affect the outer devices in a minor fashion. Again the die is not doubled, just the machine during the striking caused this to happen. All machine doubling is really damage that happened to a coin during the strike or ejection process. Not really collect able, just interesting to newbie to coin collecting. Ebay is a venue that takes advantage of this type of collectors.
Well not sure if I will ever be able to differentiate between the two of these. As I had a buffalo nickel that was machine doubling and it was lower than the lettering and flat. This isn't flat or lower than the lettering, so i dont know how to tell when I thought I actually had it in my head this time.
Keep in mind on a doubled die the devices will be larger than normal compared with another coin. Machine doubling will just be damaged damaged devices. http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/coop49/MORE_MACHINE_DOUBLING.jpg http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/coop49/1966_CENT_MACHINE_DOUBLING.jpg http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/coop49/Machine_Doubling_UNI_REVERSE.jpg http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/coop49/machine_doubling_or_variety.jpg http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/coop49/Machine_Doubling_Proof_Coins.jpg
