Good morning, I was on Heritage Auctions looking to possibly pick up a new addition when I came across this specimen up for auction(First two pics). It jogged my memory of my 1982 which I thought was PMD except for how strike looked more DDD. I figured coin was subjected to acid and just put it away until what I came across in Heritage. The last 8 picks are my coin and needed help. I know coin is a sad sack but I'm more curious as to if it is a partial plating anomaly or was subjected to acid and how does one tell the difference? Thanks
I thought the same but the strike in lettering had me confused. Especially the R in America being so distorted. Can that occur from PMD and how did coin up for auction get into general circulation?
There are several letters that appear to have been eaten away, possibly by acid. The coin up for auction is graded MS. It is unlikely that it was found in circulation. It was probably found in a Mint bag.
The issue with coins damaged by corrosion, acid or physically altered with a tool or any other method is they are damaged after they are minted, ergo, Post Mint Damage. Many ask how a coin got into a certain state and we speculate what could have caused the damage or alteration. In the final analysis, it really doesn't matter how the coin came to be in its present state because these coins have no financial upside except for attributes such as counter-stamps.
It is useful to know how certain forms of damage occur. Acid, buffing/whizzing, heat/torching, grinders, plating, strikes with fake dies, vise jobs, etc. Studying these makes it easier to identify why a psossible error is not an error. However, one does not need to prove exactly how damage occurred. What matters is that one can prove why it is a genuine error, and for that you need to have a good understanding of the minting process both how they're made now and how they used to be depending on the year the coin was made
