1879 Nickel Three cent piece shattered Reverse/ heavy-duty clashes
HalfDimeDude
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1879 US 3 CN low mintage 38k known for heavy clashed. 
Twin bisecting die cracks on the reverse Roman Numerals multiply clashes.
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
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That's cool!
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Nice die cracks - have always liked those on the 3cn.
I don't see the clash, but many do have them.
wow
that rev is almost the baseball rev like the seated half!
That has a pleasant look to it. I also need help finding the clash. Definitely see the die cracks!
Yes!
What a strange little coin. The not-worn-away wire rims suggest a grade of at least EF, but the coin looks so much less. I suspect that the dies were really collapsing at this terminal die state.
Nice piece! Makes you wonder which has seen more use, the coin or the die.
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1879 business strikes were all struck on 3 die pairs, Same for the proofs strikes Po1,Po2,Po3/ Bo4,Bo5,Bo6. The mint had in past years used the proof dies to strike business strikes.
Not this year the set of 3 proofs only used on the proof strikes. And the 3 die pairs for the business strikes. Looking at the specimen date one can see heavy file marks . That leads me to believe that the obv. die bo6 was repurposed from a die used prior .
The low 38,000 mintage was enough the cause the bo6 die to crack as it most probably was used to pound out the required 38k. Remember that striking coins in gold or silver the medals softness is one thing...but striking in CN copper nickel its hardness really took a toll on a die.
I do wonder why that they did not use the proof dies after the proof run to strike business strikes.
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
IIRC, they would strike one large batch of Proofs early in the year and smaller batches later in the year if sales warranted it. Thus they would have reason to keep the Proof dies in good condition just in case they needed them.
What a strange little coin... I see the clash and die cracks on the reverse...but it looks almost like it should be a different coin when looking at the obverse. Interesting. Cheers, RickO