Do these split serifs mean a subtle doubled die or not?

I've got a bunch of identical 1943P jefferson war nickels with these split serifs. Does this count as a slightly doubled die, or is it just an oddity that is completely unimportant?

The main spots it is visible are the upper end of the "S" in "trust", and on the right side of "T" and the left side of "Y" in "liberty". I took the photos at different angles to the light, as clearly as I could.


I know it's not just damage, because I have literally dozens of these nickels with the exact same markers. (I have other 1941-P nickels WITHOUT these splits, too.)

Opinions?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I think what you have is simply a die crack through the Y, and not die doubling. I can't tell what I should be seeing on the other letters.

 

Here I've circled and highlighted the spots. I've circled the spots I mentioned earlier, as they are the strongest splits, and highlighted everywhere the splitting is evident. It's not a crack, because it's down into the coin, concave, not bumped out, convex, in all of these spots. And it is not machine doubling - it's not flat, it's bumped up on both sides of each split. I've noticed the upper corner of the "E" is also split in "liberty".

It's definitely there, I'm just wondering if this counts as a doubled die, or it's normal for these letters to split on a lot of different dates of nickels?

 

I do not know how to take any clearer of pictures, and the ugly yellow toning all these nickels have does NOT help.

 

Now that you've circled it on the Y, I think you might have something. You need better lighting. It looks like you are using natural light. Do you have 2x gooseneck CFL lamps? If you do, wait until it is dark, turn those two on and photograph again. Also, do you have a 10x loupe? Some of my best close up photos are from sticking my loupe in front of my iPhone and snapping a shot.

 

For lighting I usually use a desk lamp with a flexible neck. I've got a fluorescent light in it thanks to advice I've read in another post here. I'll see what else I can scrounge up.

I've got a nice camera and I've been using the 4x zoom option for these pics. I will see if I can get anything through my loupe but I need to experiment. I'll see what I can do.

 

.

 

.

 

I only hit post once! How do I fix that! I don't see a delete button!

 

Hit edit and delete the text.
It will show a blank post.

 

thanks

 

Okay, if it's not the lighting, it's the zoom/magnification/clarity issue. You don't want to ever use digital zoom on any camera, so make sure you're not using that. I recommend picking up a macro lens for your camera if possible. Also, shooting whole coin shots and adding them to the mix helps us as well.

 

Start here...

https://www2.briansvarietycoins.com/listings

 

Thank you - that's a lot more useful than the variety vista site - it has pictures.

 

There are others as well.... seek, and ye shall find, as they say.