Here is a link to the auction - https://coins.ha.com/itm/shield-nic.../131712-25112.s?ic4=ListView-Thumbnail-071515. So check it out - I am curious as to what this is or what it is called. I read something about grease causing ghost like images a few days ago. Thought I would check here to see what others thought. Not a clash or anything like that.
No idea but have seen items on shields others dismiss . Including some in the vertical plan lines of the shield especially a 6 or 9 depending on how you look at it. I even have a shield with 5 ' s in the stripped vertical lines.
I thought that I had seen something similar to this on a Morgan dollar many years ago. Perhaps John @messydesk might know something about it. Chris
It's not ghosting, more like a die clash but I don't see any other traces of a clash and it really doesn't look like a clash either. Closest thing I've ever seen to something like this is contact transfer for the coin laying on something printed. The print causes selective toning on the coin in a reversed shape of the lettering.
It's quite strange. If the OP purchased this coin, I'd like to see it in person. If I'd seen it, I would have bid.
The ghost date is on the field and under the lettering so it's almost certainly from something on the die itself. I'd say it's a very light clash of the two dies but can't say why only the date would transfer unless the dies were misaligned when it happened. It looks a lot like this (at least the date part) edited http://www.shieldnickels.net/clashOverlays/clashOverlays.html
Is it possible that the coins had been washed in some solution that had a acid PH base? And the date transferred ? Just putting this out there...as again I have no idea . Working with such a small image it's hard to tell if the transfer happened pre mintage or over lays the devices.
I see slight hints of shadowing around the "date," indicating it might_just have some slight thickness. Wonder what would happen if a flipover cap got clashed against the reverse die? It's hard to imagine a normal clash that complete, that close to the rim. How often do you see clashing artifacts at the denticles?
@davidh: You do realize you took a copyrighted photo to illustrate your point? Minimally, you could have provided a credit. Or linked to the photo instead of swiping it. There is a copyright notice at the bottom of the page: http://www.shieldnickels.net/clashOverlays/clashOverlays.html Also, by pulling the image out of context you remove the explanatory text which decreases the value of posting the photo.
The positioning of ghost is correct for a clash. It would be nice to know if the ghost is incuse or raised on the surface. For a clash, it would need to be incuse.
Thanks all - once I receive the coin I will check it out. This was an expensive "I am very curious" about what I see coin.
Some form of environmental damage, perhaps. Two coins in contact with each other, one with some chemical on it in the fieldsame like an intaglio plate. The reversed date is transferred to the other coin. No idea of this was the cause, but it could happen this way. It doesn't look like a clash, although the alignment looks like a clash.
Well as far as I can tell it almost looks like a stain of some sort of the date on the coin. It looks like it is behind the struck reverse devices. It is tough to see and you have to get it and just the right angle. Honestly I can't tell if incused or not - if it is it just a very tiny bit.
Are there any apparent marks from devices other than from the date? For example, from the ball above the date?
Not that I can see. Looks like a crease or something down the t and something on the E, but to me those look like die wear. I really find it interesting that it is so easy to see in the pictures but really tough for my old eyes to see. Got get it at the right angle with the 10x glass. With a 5x I can see hints of it, but not really enough to tell.
If it's neither incuse nor raised, then it's not on the die. It would be some other strange form of transfer.
