Do any of y'all collect coins with a series of die cracks? That is, the same coin, from the same die pairing, that shows how the die cracks spread over time? I recently picked up 3 Morgans that apparently came from the same roll (that was what I was told and the die cracks tend to support the story). Each showed pretty impressive cracking, and I've sent them off to be slabbed and VAM id'ed. The first one (with the least advanced cracks) does not show a die clash. But the more cracked up ones show the signature clash on the reverse (libertys neckline between "in" and "god" & that odd shape between the eagles left wing and the wreath. The final one even has a die crack on the obverse, at the date.
A couple of years ago I thought I’d put together a die study on the 1817 O-105 die marriage. This was the last use of obverse die 3-s2. (Used previously to strike the O-103a--the punctuated date die marriage in the die state with the dot removed). In all there are four die states for this die marriage: (1) No Obverse or Reverse die cracks (the O-105 Prime; Probably R7 per the Auction and Mail Bid Prices Realized (AMBPR) Sadly, although I have seen one of the 6 or 7 known I don’t own one to show. There is one currently for sale--I can't afford it right now. (2) Obverse die cracks only the O-105; probably R6 (13-30 examples) per the AMBPR Note the crack at star 9 No die crack at date No die crack at top of OF (3) the O-105a...Obverse and Reverse die cracks , R4- (150 to 200 examples) Die crack at date just starts above 7 in date. Die crack above OF (4) the O-105b...Full-blown Obverse and Reverse die cracks Probably R-4+ (76 to 125 examples) Crack at Star 9 extends fully across Liberty's cap; crack at date extends to rim above Star 11. No difference from the above state.
Early copper collectors are very big into die breaks. They trace them and classify them as die states. I am not a big fan of this. When there are only a few hundred nice collector coins of a certain fairly common variety, it doesn't take many big collectors long to own a significant part of the market. That leaves fewer coins from the smaller collectors and the people who might be getting into it for the first time. That is an unpopular view, but it's the way I feel. Most people don't realize how much rarer early 19th century coins are than the modern coins which most people collect.
