I ran into one of these a few weeks back. It was also on a 1973-D. I didn't really think of anything at the time and threw it in my coppers container. Well, a few days ago I ran into another one. So, I decided to see what you folks think it could be. It is RAISED, almost to the same level as the memorial roof. I am guessing a large die dent maybe. All comments are welcomed and thanks to all!
Uh oh, is this the return of "surfin' abe"? I concur with you jay that this appears to be a large die dent.
Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Yep, i guess Abe got angry and tried to throw the board onto the roof of the memorial.
It is in the vicinity of where the coat would clash, but this looks way to "tall" and wide to be a clash.
You were right non_cents. Bob confirmed your hypothesis on another forum. He said, "It appears to be a clash remnant Jay. Looks like it was a pretty hard hit and has since been abraded and has worn down a bit."
UPDATE: Mike Diamond said, "These have always been a mystery to me. They occur on many 1973-D cents, and in association with more than one die pair. I don't think they're clash marks as they're always ill-defined and always appear in the same area. No other "clash marks" are seen on either face. In severely affected specimens the Memorial columns can be waisted and damage occurs in areas well-removed from the main defect." I'm gonna try to find the other one I threw in my copper bin a week or two ago. I think it is in better condition.
I am not even going to look it up ... as I am accumulating a larger sample, which by the way is not difficult to accomplish. What was it 17% of the population or some such? Lets all get together and get to some sort of real statistical consensus on this kind of thing. Like the 43's. anybody have a pile of them to look through? Nobody has date sorted piles of various denominations? Gesus even I have 100,000' s already and I am a total noob only working through this stuff that fell into my lap. Everybody is just holding back? er what? Go see: http://www.cointalk.com/threads/abe-surfs-the-bays.233667/ an answer to post 52 there would be helpful.
Very interesting to hear Mike's opinion on this. The fact that it appears on more than 1 die pair is interesting as well. Maybe it was an issue that occurred further up the line, maybe with the master die or working hubs?
guys this is just too minor to worry about what the heck caused this. IMO it's best to just overlook the things that everyone knows will never be worth much and concentrate on the better things
Now what difference do you think it would help to worry about the leg on a number 3. this is totally nonsense
While you do have a point, some collectors aren't always concerned about how much a particular coin will be worth. To some of us, finding out what caused the anomaly is the real reward. Sure, sometimes the differences can be insignificant, but I personally like the thinking involved in "how could this have happened"?
you and awordcreated will learn as more time goes by that worrying about this kind of minor things will never help in any way. there are numerous things that it could be but who wants to waste years on it and still not find out for sure. just like awordcreated's dilema about the tail on the 3 there are many many things that could have caused this. even a partially filled 3 on a coin die.
I'm not particularly "worried" about it, but I think once one can understand the minor anomalies, it gives a better understanding of the die making and striking process, so we can all go after the "big guns" like you, Rascal.
I understand what you are talking about, rascal. My reason is that, from now until I kick off, I am trying to find as many different examples on the HUGE error/variety checklist at error-ref.com. I am not panning on selling anything I find unless I find multiple examples or it is something really big. I am just trying to find the names for things that I don't know what are. I do really appreciate your knowledge and advise. You are definitely one of the growing few that I take what they say to heart. Thanks for the advise.
