So after reading a lot regarding the minor doubled dies in the 90's-2009's (thanks to everyones links, advice and information here) I thought I would hone up on what a DD really looks like and I found these interesting specimens (none look DD). The first one is a 1997 with a ton of issues, some I know the correct terms for but not all. In the first image of the 1997 Lincoln Cent the reverse has some, what I call, stress lines from the letters to the center of the memorial. The second image has a collection of stuff from die gouges to weird lines above the "States" in every letter but most obvious above the T the E and the S. What really intrigued me was the obverse, specifically the ear. Notice how the line of the jaw extends behind the ear and doesn't end under the earlobe like the other image I used to compare. What do you suppose that is? This second image is of a 1984-D Lincoln cent that I just thought was pretty neat so I dubbed it "The falling steps cent". If you look closely the step lines follow a downward run and even the end of the steps on the left are smudged towards the center it looks like a simple die break that smudged but how cool is it?
I can't really say about the first photo in the group of 6. I've never seen this before. This anomaly appears to be too straight to be a part of the jawline, but appears more as an extension from the ear lobe. @Fred Weinberg @furryfrog02 @paddyman98 ? The second and sixth photos appear to be feeder finger scrapes. I have seen plenty of these on this particular year. The third is an internal die break. The fourth looks like machine doubling. And the last is hard to tell but I have seen wavy steps on these also.
I pretty much thought the same on the first images except the ear lobe one, still confused on that one. The last image with the wavy steps I have one but they are wavy in the middle right under Lincoln. I've never seen one in searches that has it wavy on the sides of the steps. Something else that doesn't show on the image is that the pot (not the exact term for them i'm sure) on the left just where the stairs end are also flowing downward to the right including the rail leading to the top step. Again, I think it is a die crack but not 100% sure.
I just looked into trail dies "wavy steps" and found a site with knows 1997 trail dies but none match my second image coin. Also, from what I read, trail dies occur in more than one place on a single coin and i can't see anymore trail on this coin.
Trail dies seem to appear on cents more than any other coin. Most I have seen are at "Liberty", the date and many other places on the reverse.
On the full reverse image of the first coin (top image) do you see the lines coming from "AMERICA" and past it in a circular formation? Would those also be considered "Trails" or do you think it was a plating issue?
You might try contacting the three people I tagged above to get an opinion. I'm not sure why they did not chime in but may have missed the post. Fred is a 50 year specialist in errors and the other two are well known here for these types of coins. (Maybe not this one in particular but they may find out what it is).
I think the ear is within specs, not a DD. Perhaps extra tolerance in clearance of the dies or die deterioration in that area.
I thought it was die deterioration but i just cant find anything like it assuming quite a few where made with the same die. Here is a close-up of it from a different angle and see what you think: See the extra line next to the ear going all the way to the top of the ear and how the jaw line suddenly stops right before the ear lobe then goes around to the back? This one is of another 1997 with similar circulation wear but it does not have the line behind the ear.
BTW, I'm not saying it is not MD or die deterioration, definitely not saying it is a DD, just wondering if anyone else has seen this and has a conclusive reason for it.
