Early anacs V nickel

They are inset. I thought maybe it was raised rust on the die as opposed to rust pitting which is why it caused depressions. I'm not sure what was going on with the die to cause the indents on the coin

 

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Well, when you look at something which has rusted, you see that metal has been eaten away into it. Sometimes, the product of that rusting bubbles outward, but it's a bubble all the same and it goes away with the slightest pressure. Anything above the surface used to be metal that was below the surface. No way a rusted die manifests itself in things strong enough to impress themselves into a planchet at 100+ tons of pressure.

 

Then what are your thoughts on what caused it?

 

Thanks for posting the new images, now one reason I asked to post a close up of the date and the area is that there are several Rpd's known on the 1883 Liberty nickel.
One has a die crack that runs down through stars 2 and 1 then though the date . Another observation is the denticals . Notice that the shape from 12 k counterclockwise to 6 k manage to change from tooth like shapes to under the date to ball/ bead shaped.
The 3 has a die chip on the inside lower loop. Another observation is how the areas under each sort of mocks the numerals in the date a small ( | ) under the 1 a ( ○ ) under the 8 , next the second is void of any marks under the lower loop, and under the 3 another artifact .
Now back to the denticals notice that they are bead shaped directly under the 1 foot, remain that shape for a count of 8 at which again change shape again to a larger bead shape for a count of 4, again they change to a medium bead shape for a count of 4, then proceed back to a tooth like shape again.
Now even though the strike is nice ,I believe that the die was in the late state and was repaired . Minting no cent 83 nickels until the new reverse was put into service.
I could be wrong .....but it makes me wonder studying the images of the denticals on the obv. And the changes in style,shapes, and size. So my take is a late die that was repaired to bang out as many as possible nickels ,until the 83 cent coins were minted.
Again these were thinner then shields but still made of a extremely hard alloy,mint workers were striking in copper,and silver alloys that were softer medals to work with.
That being the case the die life were most probably 10,000-15,000 strikes per die until the die exploded ,or was damaged and was in need of repair rather then replaced.

 

Timely post. I just got one of these Photo Grades and have been struggling with how to display and store it. The links above gave me some leads. Thanks!

 

Can't say I have any firm thoughts yet.

Looks to me offhand like perhaps the planchet itself was too brittle, and fractured under the pressure of the strike. If the die had fractured, the "features" would be raised, just as they would with a pitted die.