What the? The lettering of the words on west Virginia and E Pluribus Unum seems like a Die slid or something there abouts. It's confusing how this could have happened. Thanks in advance.
Die Deterioration…just a best guess. Dude…you need to tell us/ask us a specific question. Don’t make us guess what you mean.
Well, as far as sliding goes…the coin is locked into a collar, then struck, then kicked out of the press. Depending on the age of the die, the age of the collar, the angle the die is at at the moment of the strike…all of these can induce slippage but they are usually very minor amounts, from virtually zero slippage when the die set is new to greater and greater amounts as the die set ages. I don’t know how many coins per die set the Mint targets, but they push the limits quite frequently, and your coin is a good example. Anytime you see incomplete numerals, letters or design devices you should think of deterioration, and a shattered die is a catastrophic failure of a deteriorated die.
So west Virginia is not raised, it's actually recessed...e pluribus unum IS raised as in over filled. Why is that?
The word is incused. The deterioration of the die no longer depresses into the planchet at the worn spots. Incomplete letters. On UNUM, the worn spots on the die allow extra metal to flow in.
Mr. Elliott, my only comment is, can I request the use of W, instead of w, for the word West? I realize the town of Elliott in West Virginia is extinct now, but that is no reason to diss the whole State.
@Wade Elliott ….go to error-ref.com, Part VI Striking Errors for more information about incused lettering and numerals. The site will set you straight on what is a true Mint error as opposed to those errors that do not happen at the Mint. And there is also our resident error expert @paddyman98 …who has 35 years expertise with errors. If you contact paddyman, have some patience. He will eventually respond…after he gets back home from metal detecting!…Spark
