I have been seeing on several coins recently the stars & letters on the outer edge of the coin connected by a fine thread. Can anyone explain why this happens, as I highly doubt the design included the thread like connector, or am I wrong??? BTW I picked up this CC mint with an MS 65 rating for a great price. All the other CC were so dinged and overpriced, I was shocked to get this fairly ding free coin for a great price.
It is die cracking as it deteriorates. the metal gets up into it. VAM listings are essentially die pairings and wear pattern to create a comprehensive history of the life of the die.
I love die cracks...well done! The way the Obverse design interacts with the Reverse design determines the primary stress points and the life of the die for each design. If memory serves, Charles Barber felt his "Barber" designs represented the pinnacle of coin design and he had serious objections to the renaissance designs of the early 20th century...from an engineering perspective.
When I grew up in the 1960's, we sang a song with the title the same as this thread. http://www.sewerhistory.org/miscellaneous/the-history-of-a-nursery-rhyme-ring-around-the-rosie/ More info here on it referring to the Black Death caused by the plague, as I have to believe many coin buffs here are as fascinated by historical as I am????