119 years later...The Flying 9 IHC... Wasn't sure if anyone had posted this or not...i couldn't find it here, but my search skilz on CT seem to be lacking http://www.coinworld.com/news/new-flying-9-variety-of-1896-indian-head-cent-discovered.html#
Yeah, that almost looks like struck-through debris. It's in the nature of a struck-through. I think they got it right, it's a "sliver." It's not as raised as the main body of the 9, suggesting it's independent. It was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. In other words, it could have formed outside the 9. Maybe it's even that piece of the 9 that's broken off.
That bite taken out of the 9 can happen either if the 9 on the date punch is chipped or if something else is punched into the die after the 9 is punched, deforming it. Time for the sweet potatoes and clay.
Thats an awful lot of money for this variety......I found a new variety this year, 1906 S-61 (confirmed by Rick Snow and added to his guide), where the repunching on the 6 is one of the widest seen in the entire series, but there is not premium like this associated with that one. I cant see how the coin mentioned above could be worth $1000 under any circumstance.
The main reason the 96 S-21 will bring a large premium is because it is so dramatic that it would easily be visible even on a corroded AG coin, yet was unknown until now, making it both a rare and "sexy" variety. The 06 S-61, even though the repunching spread is wide, isn't going to be attributable on lower grade or dirty circulated coins. Since it isn't anywhere near as dramatic as the 96 S-21, it's not going to be as high on people's must-have lists. We see this with Morgan dollar varieties all the time. Almost none of the recent discoveries are worth a premium, even those that are RPDs.
There's still a mystery in the nature of the "sliver" in the '96 S-21, too. What makes it interesting is its proximity to the cut in the 9. Is that coincidental or is it the part of that cut that became dislodged and settled there? If it's unrelated to the cut, that's pretty coincidental, settling right there, right off the cut.
From the article: Hmm...If it were a chunk of metal that was pushed into the die by the 9 punch, wouldn't it be pushed in further? In other words, the mark would be raised on the surface of the 9, instead of slightly lower relief? That's a very interesting discovery--I won't try to explain it.
