What's up with the middle part of the W in We? The US in Trust is thicker at the bottom of each letter. There is also a raised line at the neck. Is that a die chip along and to the side of the coat? What are the lines coming off of the bow tie? There is also a die crack from one side of the memorial to the other side. Other pics will be added in another post.
Wow, that's a lot of questions. I will try to answer them the best I can. 1) I am not seeing any extra thickness in the letters. It could be the result of die wear. 2) The anomaly at the back of Lincoln's neck is a clash mark from the memorial on the reverse. 3) Not seeing any lines coming off the bowtie. 4) The die chip looks like either a plating bubble or a die gouge. 5) yes, those are die cracks. You can find similar ones starting in 1982, and they can be found all the way through 1989. They are common. keep up the hunt!
Thanks. I was hoping you would chime in. What do you make of the W in We? The middle part looks like it is separated.
Please disregard the previous question about the W. After playing with the camera/lighting some more I got this pic.
The lighting trick was killing me for the longest time, I finally invested a few bucks in a fixed magnification microscope (100x). A bit too much power for the job, but it helps to give a sanity check in such instances... also helps to determine if marks of interest are really pmd (which they usually are). If I had to buy again, I would opt for a 40x. If you have a low-res digital microscope as I do, buying a stronger fixed optic piece will reduce time wasted chasing questionable phantom varieties.
