i apologize in advance for the poor photo ... my camera isn't too keen on getting up close to the action. unfortunately in the photograph it looks like a scratch - in person it does not look at all like a scratch. at first glance the 5 seems flattened, and i associated to the forum thread about a picture of dime i posted showed a flattened last digit and someone suggested post mint damage possibly resulting from compression by the paper roll. i thought that might be possible, but it seems there's additional things going on with the digit - almost something under the digit. granted the edge of a paper roll could contain some foreign matter that could damage a coin ... the penny doesn't have any other peculiarities to speak of, not to my uneducated eye. i found this in change a few decades ago. thanks for any thoughts!
It is nearly impossible to tell exactly what you're describing from the photos you've included, but if you describe the 5 as being "flattened", it was most likely just hit the wrong way by a crimping machine. These typically cause obscured mintmarks and digits in dates because of the combination of elevation with less surface area, causing the metal to easily bend. These coins command no premium. If you'd like further more accurate analysis, try taking some inhanced-quality, close-up photos. -Brian
my camera is not too great - and it is auto focus so i sometimes have to put other things near the object to give the camera something in the right vicinity to focus on - but i think showing the digit from different perspectives will show a bit of detail. i'm sure there's some great threads here about photographing coins here - perhaps even photographing coins with crappy equipment - i'll search for some of those later on. the only thing i know is that photographing coins in morning natural light, sometimes supplemented with a bright spot light in my kitchen which helps bring out some relief, works best for me.
Great idea to use bubble wrap to conquer your auto-focus problem. I never would have thought of that!
I don't know what made the last digit like that, but based on how coins are made, I don't know what in the process could have caused it. Definitely doesn't look like it could be a variety, since I can't imagine an error on the die like that. Nor do I see it as an error. Most likely some kind of PMD.
