This cannot happen during the minting/die making process. Here is a link that explains how dies are made. The more a new collector learns about the this process, the easier it will be to distinguish errors and varieties from damage. http://www.coinnews.net/2013/09/13/how-the-philadelphia-mint-makes-hubs-and-dies-to-produce-coins/ I strongly recommend new collectors bookmark this page as a reference. There is other info out there on the minting and die making processes as well.