If you go onto Varietyvista.com besides the series there is a type coin section many never pay attention to....it list some varieties other than modern coinage. One item it list is an 1853 O half dime as a possible over mint mark. Dr Wiles asked for specimens to photograph and study.... I ran across this 1853 O in my collection of half dimes......what say you? Md. or RPM ? Please feel free to state your reasons... you'll also notice that I've included some images of the date as well... you may wish to post your thoughts on that also.... After some post I will post another 53 O H-10 from a different die marriage, and give you the number of dies used to mint the run of 2,200,000 < 1853 > half dimes. there were also 160,000 no Arrows H-10 minted in New Orleans in 1853 . Oh btw tnis date is known for both med and lg. O mint marks....that said could an omm be a possibility? http://varietyvista.com/19th Century & Misc Varieties.htm
I would have said RPM based upon the second photo, but with the first, it seems more like "noise" in the photo itself. I'd say it's wear or whatever you want to call it.
To me, it's the wrong size to be an RPM. What appears to be an underlying O would have to be half the size of the actual O. So my money would be on something else, like die deterioration of some sort or machine doubling.
The mintmark would be restruck with the same punch, so if a part of the "O" peaked out above, there should be a corresponding crescent of the lower inside of the "O" showing also, and there isn't , so I would say no to second mint mark. I suspect it is deterioration of the mm punch. Jim
