Die crack - is this a total bust?

So a while back a got ton of common date Lincoln cents, buffalo nickels and liberty head nickels from an old dealer lot. One of the coins in it was in a flip and labeled "die crack" 1909. Looking at the back of the coin, it looks like the die not only was cracked but busted in several places. For instance, it almost looks like the wheat lines to the left busted off in a tiny piece.

I know the coin is worn and I may be wrong on the cracking. Any opinions would be appreciated.
Also, is there any market out there for a coin like this or should I just keep it as a curiosity? I haven't evolved into error collecting yet.

 

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All the 'chips' seem to be indented into the coin. Wouldn't die damage leave a raised portion on the coin? Could it be corrosion/post mint damage? Just a guess, thanks for posting.

 

Thanks for the comment. I think the thing I find interesting is that where the crack and indents are you can see more pronounced wheat stalks. This made me think it is the die that impressed them, not damage after minting.

 

Remember, a die is a negative of the struck coin. The only way to get a result like this is to add metal to the die. That's easier said than done.

 

From your pictures that coin doesn't even look real. The whole surface looks grainy. The pits in the center. The drip looking blob up by E Pluribus. The left hand side of the coin those are not die trails. Well maybe on the original coin they were. Do you have a pic of the obverse?

 

I see no Die Cracks at all
It's all Laminations

 

Thanks for all the comments! I'm virtually certain that the coin is indeed real as there were tons and tons of common date coins that were all from this dealer stash, I can't tell you the number of flipped 25 cent (price) 1919's were in the box.
There were a few marked with laminations some 1934 d RPMs that I can't for the life of me even see! And this one marked as cracked.
This may be my magnifier making this look less than real. I'll take another few pics when I get home from work. It's a much deeper brown in person.

Thanks again, I'll have to do more research on exactly what causes a lamination and how they would be all over the coin like this.
Or heck, it may just be damaged like some of you feel!
Anyway, no investment or dog in the race so to speak, and learning from this coin is interesting.

 

To me, it doesn't look like a lamination or a crack. It looks like PMD!

Chris

 

Your coin is simply corroded and scratched. There is no raised metal.

 

I am thinking the same thing, Corrosion and cleaned,
The Color is off?

 

Note the yellowish cast to the reflection off what certainly looks like a black background. The color is off because the white balance of the camera is off.

 

The wheat stalks do seem to have more detail in the sunken areas. This makes me believe that this is not a laminated coin, since I would expect less detail of a portion of the coin surface laminated and fell off. My SWAG is that a corrosion has built up on the coin, and has chipped off in areas, resulting in more detail. The sunken areas of the coin are heavily cratered as if corroded.

 

I have a few more natural pictures. It's definitely beat up. Guess I'll file this as an interesting PMD, clinker

 

I believe this is the stirrinum effect. You place the corroded coin in a cleaning solution and keep stirring until the corrosion is gone? ?????

 

It does look like lamination to me.

 

There are NO laminations on the coin. Laminations are a separation of the surface. When the piece comes off the coin it is usually in the form of a tear, therefore the borders of a lamination are usually sharp. The sunken surface, crystallization, and build-up at the boundary of the depressions are characteristic of corrosion.

 

You know I kept asking myself that same question, though I have seen on various metals that are one kind of a metal not sandwiched with other metals. Rarely on occasion pieces break away, this is usually caused by a faulty mixture of metal resulting in a flaw in that piece of metal. I have noticed on coin talk quite a few members referred to certain spots or blemishes on coins referred to as stains and or whatnots. Usually when you get a stain on a piece of metal it is generally caused by a founding problem. Which causes a defect in that piece of metal. It could be the size of a pinhead, but as oxygen and time that little pinhead grows into a bigger spot. Certain alloyed metals. Have a tendency to do that.

 

Seeing that there are pits in other places of the coin, the idea of corrosion seems to be the most plausible.
I will say that I have done lots of experiments with coins (only of no numismatic value) but would never clean a coin and then ask for commentary. Hence if this was de-corroded, it wasn't me.

One question for reference. If there was corrosion such as in the area of the wheat stalk to the left. Would it have acted as a protectant and when removed, the higher areas were worn but the wheat lines preserved? I always thought of corrosion as taking everything with it and removal leaving an indiscernible mess behind.

 

All I know is from my practical experience. There is all kinds of corrosion. I know you've all been driving and seen that unpainted piece of steel pole alongside the road. And you've notice that red coloration look. That is commonly known as surface rust. Or surface corrosion. I will show you a coin here that when I received it. You basically could not tell it was a coin. It had over 100 years of dirt and debris encrusted on it. The only thing that indicated it was a coin was the circular dimensions. The rest looked like something a kid would make in a mudhole. I only wish I would've taken photos of the coin prior. And you know the saying curiosity killed the cat. Just like my pet rattlesnake that the cat wasn't supposed to play with but curiosity got him killed. At first I tried a warm soapy soak for a couple of days with no result. Let me say this is what resulted after I got finished. Now you can tell it's a coin and even the date. The bottom line there's all kinds of corrosion in stages. I also noticed what you noticed on the olive leaf. In my opinion that can occur when the surface corrosion comes off. Key word there is surface. Enjoy these photos

 

If the reverse is so corroded, why not the obverse? The corrosion on the reverse is severe. I would expect more of a lava rock effect, for lack of a better term, in the corroded area and on the devices within the corroded area. Corrosion and oxidation is somewhat non-discriminating to metal surfaces. They are looking for paths of least resistance with their tentacles of destruction thus pitting. Why discriminate now with the devices of the coin?

Still think its fake with impurities in the copper alloy. usmc60's coin looks like corrosion.