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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;messydesk, post: 5160449, member: 1765&quot;]Neat die polishing lines on the portrait, for sure.&nbsp; Crisp die polishing lines are one sign of an early die state.&nbsp; 1886 dies were often used too long and detail becomes mushy and die polishing lines disappear.&nbsp; (Aside:&nbsp; I&#039;ve started adding introductory paragraphs at the top of each date page on VAMWorld that touch on this, and 1886 is one I&#039;ve done.)&nbsp; You&#039;ll usually see them in the spaces between the hair, but not as much on the face.&nbsp; Of course, they&#039;re more protected from being banged around in the hair recesses.&nbsp; There are a few specific hair recesses that have nicknames so that we can communicate where things are.&nbsp; There is the &quot;D-shaped void&quot;, straight down from the ear and about 1/3 the way to the second 8, which is big enough to show a handful of scratches in a pattern that be matched, if necessary.&nbsp; The other is the &quot;bear claw.&quot;&nbsp; If you draw a straight line from the top of the 6 to the bottom of the 2nd U in PLURIBUS, it&#039;s the &quot;hairy paw&quot; shaped end of a curl of hair about 1/5 the way from the 6 to the U, surrounded by lots of space to collect die scratches.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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