Hi All, I noticed what I thought to be a die break, but upon further inspection I am not so sure; I was thinking maybe a planchet error/defect. It is a thick raised line that runs UNDER the monument's 11th pillar N/W under the top of the monument and continues N/W under the lettering. What do you guys think?
Thanks all for the replies! Ya, I thought it unusual that it is actually under the memorial and the letters. I guess my thought was that the planchet was not lathed properly. So what exactly is a die scratch and do they normally go under the lettering and stuff? I am not familiar with that
Well I don't sell coins so I am not going to as a value, but I will ask is this an error worth keeping? Looks very cool!
Bri., Think backwards.. a high spot on the coin will be a low spot on the die. The memorial would be lower on the die than the fields just as cpm mentioned above. So a scratch on the field of a die would not get into the device unless of course it was substantial.
As a rule, a die break will not form a straight line because when the die fails, the break will follow the path of least resistance. It can meander all over the place. If you want to see a lot of examples of these, go to VAMWorld and look at some of the photos. This is just my opinion, but I've always considered a die scratch as a smaller version of a die gouge. Both will usually appear to be a (fairly) straight line, but the scratch is usually finer. Looking at your photo, it is very bold and thick as if a broad tool caused it. Do you think the pinpoint of a needle could cause this? Chris
I would keep it. If nothing else, it makes an interesting conversation piece. You can tell your friends that it's the flagpole at the Iwo Jima Memorial just across the Potomac River. Chris
