MAD causing weak or missing attributes

mensareject

Sorry guys I'm really trying to grasp what I'm looking at. After reading some posts and seeing some examples of MAD versus off center strikes,



I'm not really understanding where the strikes will appear weak. On this penny what is maybe a weak area and not just from wear?

jonathanb

Did you post the right pictures? The coin you show is neither misaligned nor off-center.

MWallace

Here's a MAD. The opposing reverse, around "ONE", isn't weak. Often times the opposing side is weak. It depends partly on how far the die is misaligned.

jmlanzaf

The diagnostic for MAD does not require any weakness. I would separate the two concepts. Numerous coins show weakness even if aligned properly. Numerous MAD coins (like the one above) don't show weakness, especially if the misalignment is minor.

The general question about wear versus weakness is a challenge for circulated coins. It's a virtual nightmare for ancient coins that were hand struck. A Mint state coin could be so weakly struck as to appear to be a VF coin.

I'm not sure there is a really simple diagnostic other than experience. Some strikes are generally weak over a large area of a coin, for example New Orleans Mint Morgan dollars. Other times, the strike weakness is more localized as with the Blakesly effect on clipped planchet coins or SOME MAD coins.

davewesen

The original coin seems to have a slight mis-aligned die (MAD) because on the obverse the rim is thicker at 3 o'clock than at 9 o'clock.

FredWeinberg

As mentioned above by jonathanb, that cent is not even close to being a misaligned die –
It’s ‘as struck’ as a normal coin.

davewesen

Fred, who far apart does it need to be before defined as mis-aligned die?

FredWeinberg

I don’t know where there a definite definition of appearance or percentage written anywhere, but Mike Wallace’s example above is a good example-
Generally, the misaligned side will look 3–5% off center but the reverse is normal

There are very minor MAD’s’ That are fairly common and carry no premium whatsoever, but the OP’s piece isn’t even close and I would not consider it even a minor, minor MAD.

lilolme

@MWallace said:
Here's a MAD. The opposing reverse, around "ONE", isn't weak. Often times the opposing side is weak. It depends partly on how far the die is misaligned.

.
This webpage appears to show the weakness mentioned.

https://www.error-ref.com/horizontal-misalignment-of-the-hammer-die/

@FredWeinberg Not surprising that your post is fairly much what coneca error terms states. See below.

Offset Die Misalignment
This coin exhibits what at first appears to be an off-center strike; however, the opposite side of the coin is in perfect alignment. This error occurs when a die (usually the hammer die, but occasionally the anvil die) is offset in any direction. In order for the error to have any significant collector value, it must have a portion of the design missing. Typical examples of this error type will range between 2% to 5% Off. This error is often called a Misaligned Die, or MAD for short.