Neato. Why so many die cracks? Well, this is mere speculation on my part, but I assume the steel in these was harder than the regular copper (bronze) composition of previous years, so maybe they had increased attrition on the dies as a result? Don't know this for sure. That's just my assumption.
That's what I would assume too. I have often wondered how the dies held up during the 1943 cent production verses other years. If they had to replace the dies a lot more frequently or not. I have never seen any literature on the subject...but my guess is they did.
I guess it is just a worn out die - the strike looked so good that is why I hesitated about a worn die. Thanks All. Ed