So, here is an NGC half I picked up at FUN last week. If you take a look at the close-up of the reverse, there is a small triangular piece of metal at the top of the N pointed at the denticles. It is raised above the field. Is this a die chip? I am working on my photos so if anyone would like to critique, I'd be happy to accept it.
I think it's an unusual spot for a die chip. I think it's more likely that the die encountered something on one of its strikes that lightly damaged it.
It looks like there may be a fine die crack coming off the point of the triangle up to the denticals. It may be a chip that hasn't fallen away yet.
That's one nice looking coin. I don't think it's a die chip. Given the even shape of it I'm thinking a small drop of glue is something like that. It could be a retained strike though but I doubt it.
I agree that the regular shape militates against it being a die chip. I have been thinking it might be a piece of plastic left as an artifact of the slabbing process. One of these days, I may ask NGC about it - maybe at the next FUN show this summer. It's hard to believe NGC would have straight-graded it with a hunk of foreign material on it. So, I have to think that they graded it, then sent it over to the mass-production facility to slab it and then never looked at it again. And, whoever sent it in to be graded never looked at it, and all subsequent owners until me never saw it or didn't care?
