It's a crack but I don't think it's a die crack. Although, it was probably caused by the die strike. Unless the planchet already had cracks on it. It looks like the planchet was split open. Speed, pressure of the strike or defective alloy? I don't know? Cracks on Abe's face, tie and jacket. What do you think?
Question, have you checked the weight of the coin. And , do any of these voids extend into the field or are they predominantly on the devices. I can't quite tell from the photos
Yes, I checked that link out first paddy; thanks. Hmmmm, I'm still scratching my head. Although the cracks are happening in the horizontal plane, I just don't see any flaking or lifting. It looks like the Grand Canyon under the loupe. As you can see, there is definitely splitting taking place. Bottom-line: your explanation works for me.
No, I haven't weight it yet. I guess it should be about 3.11 grams? Let me go get it and check it out again. Stby....
Hey, sorry don't want to keep you waiting. I got pulled away with a couple of other things. I'll get back on this tomorrow.
Going to guess here that your coin may be slightly underweight. If so than I feel your coin was struck on a planchet that had laminated before the strike. The anomalys on the devices have the appearance that the planchet had voids already in its surface and there was not quite enough metal left to close these voids during the strike. Your coins voids have the look of metal flowing in rather than metal peeling up. The fields would have been the first areas to strike up so the lack of voids in this area is a good sign. Laminates after the strike are common but a lam before the strike is very hard to find.
Sorry, had to get a new battery for the scale. The weight looks about right. If anything, it might be a hair under. Yes, the voids are predominantly on the devices. However, there is a "very slight" void extending into the field at Abe's neck/Adam's Apple. Other then that, all the fields look undisturbed.
These cracks are too small to determine if they propagate primarily in the horizontal or vertical plane. All one can say is that the planchet was somewhat brittle and friable.
