Why not? People find 1 of a kind RPM. It clearly looks doubled to me, don't you think so? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Because the last year that they hand punched mint marks was 1989. From 1990 on they were put directly on the master die. Hence, no RPM's after 1989...
Not a RPM...And most likely not a doubled die IMO. I would guess it to be some MD. Do you check any of the coins you post before you post them? I know coppercoins doesn't have every last doubled die/RPM/OMM ever created but it really is a good place to start. Wexler's doubleddie.com is also a good resource.
Doubled mint marks were caused when the engraver struck the punch that created the mark in the die more than one time. For instance, the engraver might have felt the mark wasn't deep enough and hit the punch harder a second time. Thus, the doubled mark (RPM). In 1990 and after, the hand punched process was eliminated and the mark engraved just like the rest of the die. There are no RPMs after 1989 on US coinage.
Yeah, that's not an RPM. I would highly recommend bookmarking coppercoins.com so you can compare your coins with actual listings for that year, and know what to look for. As said, after 1989 the mint stopped hand-punching the mintmark into the working dies, thus eliminating RPMs. People do find rare coins, but the coins they find do not go contrary to what we know about the minting process.
On the clad coinage, especially cents, I've noticed while error searching that there are many, many instances of what looks like doubling. I believe that when the coin is struck, gasses between the layers in the planchet are displaced and create bubbles which mirror the stamped image. It seems the layers of the planchet just aren't tight enough. These cents are often covered with small bumps that are gas bubbles under the copper layer. It's a crappy process that renders a really poor quality coin, but real errors are still being minted, it just takes a lot of practice and a good scope to fine them.
What your are seeing is the metal striations caused from the sides of devices that moved during a strike. Not a variety.
