Die gouges in Lincoln shield 2015

I'm an idiot. Even with a shield cent in hand the lettering looks raised to me. I have learned that I can no longer trust my own eyes. I feel stupid. I'm sorry.

 

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Please everybody - stop apologizing and let's do something useful!

I'll ask again. If I took the shield reverse die and put a gouge in it across the die where the "R" was, what would it look like on the struck coin? I'll check back tomorrow for some answers.

 

These hits so closely resemble the die gouges we see in the 19th century, and that is what caused my initial confusion. It must have tricked Larry, too, as he has much more experience than I. He is merely being humble.

But that does not mean that we don't have something to learn here. It will always be a mystery how gouges were imparted into the dies of the 19th century, but my guess is due to transportation. Circulation wear on the die, if you will.

The dies were transported from the furnace to the press in some manner. At the Philly mint, the dies were probably wheeled around on a cart. Branch mints had their dies sent to them. I suspect the gouges that appear in the IHC series are due to the die being moved between the furnace, the hub, and the press.

 

Possible stretch hilarious: we were not there); but 99% NOT very likely.