AHA! That's why always show both sides when asking questions - BUT it is definitely damage done after the coin left the mint.
First, welcome to the neighborhood @Patrick Rees ! Whenever you find a coin with something that shouldn't be there, you must first ask yourself, "If this is a Mint error, what could have caused it?" Chris
Thank you, and you're right! Except not knowing the process from granules of metal to finished product does leave me wondering... What could have caused this during the minting process?
That was done after it left the mint, may have been used as some sort of a Rube Goldberg for something. But I no idea for what.
Okay! Look closely at the edge surrounding each hole. You can see that there is metal pushed up around the edge. If this had been created either before or during the striking process, you wouldn't see a raised edge because the die would keep it from forming. So, what conclusion can you draw from knowing this? Chris
I'm going to have to get a better camera. I don't know... Seems like something could of been on the die everything is too symmetrical. Or on a roller? I'll trust all for now, but going to do some research too. The metal is really not that pushed up if at all...
Could have been done with a tapered punch which would or could come out w/o raising the metal. But I'm seeing something to the right of each hole, when enlarged that looks like something backed out of the hole.
That doesn't matter. The letters are supposed to be raised. It's not flush with the fields that surround the letters. Chris
