What is this mint error called?

The reverse of this 1987-D is normal. The right side of the obverse is normal. No pictures of the entire coin.

The left side has a slightly raised mound that is not associated with any die breaks so not a cud. Thanks!

 

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I've seen that before - associated with a worn die.

 

Looks to me like the very rare and very dangerous "chewed cud", often only seen in bovine circles.

 

Don't you mean bovine semicircles?

Chris

 

Normal? No pictures? Why should we take your word for it?

Chris

 

The fact that both sides are entirely normal and show no signs of die wear plus the fact that the "error" is a slightly raised localized area leads me to believe it should not be called a worn die.

 

Thanks @GDJMSP That's the confirmation I was hoping for. I also think this is a sinking or collapsed die error but never saw one like this before. On this coin the die appears to have warped as there is no evidence of any breakage yet. Does that seem right?

BTW, care to tell us how old you are?

 

That is an interesting thought.

Chris

 

Click on his username.

Chris

 

See this thread. It'll tell you how is he.
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/how-old-is-he.112690/

 

I thought I put an end to that thread when I posted that Doug was God but it just kept going

 

If he told you, he'd have to kill you!

 

I've heard it called a "buckled die" before, but I can't remember where I saw it. The die is failing internally, just as you mention, without showing an actual crack on the face.

 

http://www.error-ref.com/orange-peel-texture/

Its die deterioration with an orange peel effect. We also see flow lines formed within this orange peel area which is normally seen with this type of die deterioration.

John Lorenzo
Numismatist
United States

 

To me, that's clear from the differential effect as one looks across the letters of the word "LIBERTY". The L is almost consumed by the breakage, or whatever you call it, while the TY is unaffected. The E is at the San Andreas Fault. Presumably, the die has begun to crumble away to the approximate distance of the normal height of the letters. I'll bet after one or two more strikes, it was completely toast. This is like a stop motion frame of a movie of a die collapse at the critical instant. If it were incuse, I'd call it a foreign object crud on the die. This is the coinage equivalent of a glacier, the die, calving off an iceberg and this is the very beginning of that process. I'll bet the next few strikes would have made a nice movie segment.

Besides, it was 1987. Have you looked at a BU roll of 1987 cents? Not our finest hour in terms of quality. Who knew a little zinc plated with copper would be so tough on die steel? We're not exactly talking about pure nickel here.