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Die Break on an 1837 H10C Large 5C?
ajman
Posts: 1,359 ✭✭✭
I just got back from the bank sdb from where I pullled a few coins out to bring home and study, and to my amazement when I looked at the coin in natural sunlight there appears what is a significant die break going NW by SE on the portrait of Liberty. I've owned this coin for several years and had not noticed it before. What I originally thought was a scratch looking at some less than stellar auction pics looks like in reality as a die break. You can really tell it is so out in the sunlight because it looks like the area is raised. My question is, is this a common variety or something more obscure? The coin is graded PCGS MS63. My photo skills are lacking but I will try to get a pic or 2 posted sometime in the near future, and if anything post the Teletrade auction photos. Thanks to everyone in advance for your replies. Tony.
Beer is Proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy -Benjamin Franklin-
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Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
Yours may be a later die state than this one:
That's a sweet Baby Bustie.
You talkin' about the striations on Liberty's cheek, there?
'Cause they don't look like die breaks to me, but rather more like you'd see in adjustment marks. I dunno- did they weight-adjust the planchets for smaller coins like this? I've seen struck-over adjustment marks on earlier dollars and halves, but not on a small coin like this. Not so you'd notice, anyway.
I do think that what we're looking at is not PMD, in any event. Probably more to do with the planchet.
<< <i>I would guess it is the LM-1 >>
Yes, you're right about that. L.M. is indeed #1.
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
No. While there do appear to be adjustment marks on Barndog's specimen, that is not what the OP is talking about. On the 1837 LM-1 (old V3), in later die state, there is an obverse die crack that develops from the rim at the top, at nearly 12:00, and runs down into the cap, and continues across the B of LIBERTY, into the curls of hair, and across the ear. It continues into the curls below the ear, down to the gown, passing just to the right of the clasp. It then continues off the hair, onto the field, and if you look closely you can see that it does reach the opposite rim at approximately K5. Look very closely at Barndog's specimen, and using this verbal description, you can follow the die crack fully across the obverse die. This is what Jules Reiver referred to as the b die state of the V3 (V3b). Apparently the OP's coin might even be a slightly later die state. There is also an elusive very early die state (VEDS) of this marriage with no sign of the obverse die crack.
<< <i>"You talkin' about the striations on Liberty's cheek, there?"
No. While there do appear to be adjustment marks on Barndog's specimen, >>
With a coin that small how much silver could you possibly scrape from it with marks that small???
Depending upon the precise setting of the rolling mill, the planchet strip could sometimes be a little too thick, making any planchets punched from it overweight. After the planchets were punched from the strip, but before they were struck into coins, the planchets were weighed to ensure they were within standards. Any planchet that was below the weight standard was remelted and made into a new planchet; any planchet that was above the weight standard was filed, or 'adjusted', to bring it down to the standard. Any one individual planchet might not yield a great deal of silver, but cumulatively, the silver adjusted from many planchets could save the Mint considerable money over time. After each day's adjustments, the filings were swept up and sent to the smelter. Even the aprons used by the adjusters were often thrown into the melting pot to make sure that all of the silver was recycled.
I think I see it now, if I press my nose to the glass.
Gotta confess, I don't usually scrutinize coins (mine or anyone else's) to that degree of infinitesimilitude (if that's a real word, haha).
Sure is a pretty coin, regardless.
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.