Three different 50 cent capped have the same, or close to, wear mark on the reverse
Herb_T
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I have been keeping track of the coins with this wear mark on the reverse….why in this same area? 2 of the 3 graded by PCGS. Strange that the rest of the reverse doesn’t show any wear close to this area. Thoughts?
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Comments
Not wear.
It was not struck up in that area.
Study the obverse of the coins. You will see that the end of the bust is directly opposite that area. Metal flows during striking to the area of least resistance. Since the end of the bust is wide and deep it “sucks up” the metal flow in detriment to the area in question on the reverse.
A: The year they spend more on their library than their coin collection.
A numismatist is judged more on the content of their library than the content of their cabinet.
Great answer 👆
as I recall, some (or all) of the reason for the frequent redesigning of the bust that went on during the early dates was to try and get a fuller strike on the reverse..
"Weakly struck". I had a return based on what was seen as a major defect on the reverse, when most of the later 1830s Bust halves have that problem. I used to make that mistake.
This is very common with bust halves of the '30's. Weaknesses can be seen as early as 1819. But the striking problem was more prevalent in later years.
@BustDMs said it well. It's a matter of metal flow in areas of high relief. Opposite the scroll weakness is the gaping lower drapery lines on the obverse. Often they are equally soft.
The Mint struggled with this issue for decades. Beautiful patterns were sometimes rejected because of this issue. Some designs were accepted and the strike results disappointing. Think of the Flying Eagle cent and the Peace dollar.
Lance.