I purchased an 1899-O Morgan today that was in a 2x2. I analyzed if for a very long time because I'm paranoid of buying Chinese counterfeit crap. Everything looks right on this coin. It has great cartwheel luster. A few minor scratches towards the back of the cheek. The reverse is very clean. No MS-64 but I estimated it to be at least a strong MS-63. I liked it and ended up walking out with it. If it is a MS63, I paid well under book for it. Definitely not cleaned. I got home and noticed the mintmark was different from earlier years but it appears they made the O slightly larger by 1899 in looking at other examples. It weighs in at 26.74 g. The spec is 26.73 g. The digital caliper reads it at 37.9 mm. Spec is 38.1 mm. I normally don't have coins fall this close to spec. I feel it pretty much checks out but then there's this very fine hairline crack, barely visible to the eye, at the top of the obverse. It starts at the "U" in Pluribus, extends to the wheat stalks?, then continues in the field to the back of the cap and goes part way on to the cap. Then starts again at the very back of the cap goes to the second "U" in Unum and stops. Then continues in the center of that U on the field. I can see it with no magnification but it just appears to be a fine scratch. Under magnification it looks like a fine crack. Thinner than a hair. I thought die cracks typically cause raised portions on the coin? Is this something to be concerned with? I looked on Heritage at other 1899-Os and found similar looking cracks on several high grade PCGS coins. I have never noticed them before. Anyone have any info?
Based on what you are saying it does not sound like this is a crack at all - you say it isn't raised. It is probably a light scratch or a hairline. The scratch coul dbe the result of the coin being kept in an album, or it might have been from a staple in a 2x2. Amost anything could have caused it. If it is a hairline then it may have been the result of the coin coming into contact with a piece of fabric or cloth.
Die cracks do cause raised lines, and that's probably what you have. It's possible it's scratched, but a scratch is pretty distinctive. Any chance you can get pictures?
It would be very hard for me to photograph. I have to look pretty hard to see it under my 5x loupe. I don't believe it is a scratch because it goes in between the second 'U' in Unum on the field. There's no marks on the U itself which is raised. Here's a Heritage auction with a great pic of what it looks like. It's not a raised die crack. Look on the reverse pic at the bottom and zoom in. This one appears to have some sort of crack going through the D and the O in Dollar. This is what mine looks like. http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=1121&Lot_No=4778
They could produce hair line cracks that are not raised at all?? BTW, how fine can a typical die crack be? I'm guessing mine is probably about 0.05 mm wide or less. As in 5 hundredths wide. Best guess.
Die cracks should always be raised, at least a little, on an uncirculated coin. Maybe you can't see it with a 5x glass. On a circulated coin, I can imagine how the raised area would get worn down, just like any other details. Die cracks can be extremely fine. When the die first starts to crack, it's often very tiny. Then, as the crack gets worse, the coins have wider and wider die crack lines.
If it is not raised it is definitely not a die crack. Such hairlines or light scratches are extremely common.
I agree, but the OP said that his lines looked like the coin in the link. Those are clearly die cracks. If the lines really are meandering, like the ones in the picture, it would be extremely unusual to have a scratch show up like that. Most of my opinion comes from a mild cynicism about the "crack" not being raised. I know sometimes it's difficult to tell.
There's no way it's a scratch. It looks like a fine crack with metal separation that curves around from one side of the coin to the other, primarily in the fields while skipping over raised devices. It could be slightly raised. Not an obvious, wide, die crack like you see on some CBH's.
