That's such a fine detail. Looks like I can barely make his outline out. Maybe a worn die? Clogged die? Maybe he took a walk to stretch his legs? :smile
One minute I think I can see parts of him and then when I zoom in all I get are lines. Guess someone could have scratched him off. But they really don't look like scratch marks or any marks for that matter that would have been made after mint.
It's my guess that it is the result of a grease-filled die. Note that a couple of the columns are also missing some detail. Chris
Those individual pieces of the statue must have been pretty heavy. We can't see them in the photo, but I wonder how many block & tackle rigs were necessary to lift his left hand? Chris
A grease-filled die isn't like most other foreign objects that can result in a strikethrough. Usually, the foreign object, such as a piece of wire, will fall away when the coin is ejected, and the result will be that the coin is a one-of-a-kind. When grease builds up within the recesses of a device (or number or letter) it will adhere to the surface of the die and can produce many, many coins with the same feature. Chris
I've been a mason for over 20 yrs, that lime stone is really heavy, they used a come-along to lift those stones, then the masons set them with pins, then mortared them in ! the pins keep them in place, local 1 masonry union for Michigan ! i moved the biggest building ever to be move ! ( the gem theater, Detroit Michigan ) I'm also in the documentary too ! long live the masons !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
