Have you ever seen this before??

19Lyds

I came across this Kennedy a few months ago with these strange cracks in the fields.











Any ideas as to what may have caused this? I mean, cracks in the field but not of the devices??

IrishMikey

Looks like an extreme form of die erosion to me.

tahoe98

...looks like a very very bad job of die polishing. and no, I've never seen this before now.

silverpop

badly worn die

crypto79

<< <i>Looks like an extreme form of die erosion to me. >>

astrorat

Die erosion lines are generally radial as they follow metal flow. Some of the "lines" looks as if they are starting to flake. Is it possible that it's delamination from a poor metal mixture?

Coinstudy

it's a 19 something kenndy

PerryHall

<< <i>...looks like a very very bad job of die polishing. and no, I've never seen this before now. >>



Yup. Die polish.

ElKevvo

Hmmm....it does not appear to be on most of the devices such as the chin, only on the fields. Possibly around the eye area, not sure. Plus in the reverse shot it looks like the whatever it was is more prominent in between the letters than the field. Perhaps some die polish was not wiped off or some other foreign substance was on the die fields?

And no I have never see that before...

K

edited 'cause I noticed something after I posted...

coinkat

Looks to be die polish- perhaps a very early strike. Is this either a 1967 0r 68-D? I wonder if it was just a half baked die polish job to keep up with production

19Lyds

<< <i>Looks like an extreme form of die erosion to me. >>

I would have expected a greater degree of degradation or erosion on the devices is this were the case. Would you agree?

19Lyds

<< <i>Die erosion lines are generally radial as they follow metal flow. Some of the "lines" looks as if they are starting to flake. Is it possible that it's delamination from a poor metal mixture? >>

Hmmm. I picked at it with a toothpick and there was no flaking or peeling. The raised lines felt just like die cracks.

bigjpst

The very first picture looks like lamination. The cracks appear to be lifting and chipping away. I have never seen anything like this either. Interesting.

19Lyds

<< <i>

<< <i>...looks like a very very bad job of die polishing. and no, I've never seen this before now. >>



Yup. Die polish. >>

I don't know that I'd agree that its "die polish". More pictures.




Note the "erosion" flow lines below.







Typically, die polish produces parallel lines. Certainly never lines that are perpendicular to each other. Nor lines that form "y's".

The shape and pattern if the lines almost makes me think that the die was brittle.

Bochiman

<< <i>Looks to be die polish- perhaps a very early strike. Is this either a 1967 0r 68-D? I wonder if it was just a half baked die polish job to keep up with production >>



I don't think it is even close to die polish. Does not look like it at all.

johnny9434

<< <i>Die erosion lines are generally radial as they follow metal flow. Some of the "lines" looks as if they are starting to flake. Is it possible that it's delamination from a poor metal mixture? >>

this ill go along with. maybe theres a worn die in there as well.

MsMorrisine

Odd look

Looks a little like old, peeling paint.

I don't think it's typical of die polish

WoodenJefferson

It looks like you hit the tri-fecta on this one, multiple things going on.

Adavanced die erosion
Planchet flaws
die polishing

dtkk49a

Could it be fake? A cast copy?

19Lyds

<< <i>Could it be fake? A cast copy? >>

Uhhhhh......no.

dtkk49a

Or maybe dipped in some corrosive solution?

19Lyds

<< <i>Or maybe dipped in some corrosive solution? >>

Uhhhhhh........no again.

MsMorrisine

A combination of things?

19Lyds

<< <i>Can you post some shots of the whole coin? And don't say "Uhhhhh......no." again lol. >>

Uhhhh...........No.













Oh crap. Give me a minute.

errormaven

To me it looks like a combination of "die crazing" and die wear. Die crazing is a rare form of die breakdown characterized by fine, irregular, intersecting lines that form a network or reticulum.

http://www.error-ref.com/die-crazing.html

19Lyds

<< <i>To me it looks like a combination of "die crazing" and die wear. Die crazing is a rare form of die breakdown characterized by fine, irregular, intersecting lines that form a network or reticulum.

http://www.error-ref.com/die-crazing.html >>

Thanks Mike.

The subject coin on the link has the cracks on the devices but not the fields. Any reason for this??

Coinstudy

1964 90% silver
1965-70 clad with a.08 silver laminate.
Coins were struck with the 1964 date up until 1966

19Lyds

<< <i>1964 90% silver
1965-70 clad with a.08 silver laminate.
Coins were struck with the 1964 date up until 1966 >>

In the interest of keep the facts correct, it was a .80 Silver/Copper cladding (laminate), not .08.

errormaven

I haven't seen many cases and I don't know the extent of variability. Die crazing is simply my best guess as to what's going on with your half dollar.



<< <i>

<< <i>To me it looks like a combination of "die crazing" and die wear. Die crazing is a rare form of die breakdown characterized by fine, irregular, intersecting lines that form a network or reticulum.

http://www.error-ref.com/die-crazing.html >>

Thanks Mike.

The subject coin on the link has the cracks on the devices but not the fields. Any reason for this?? >>

Shamika

XLDS - Extremely Late Die State

errormaven

Examination under a microscope leaves me confident that I'm looking at a case of die crazing.

ElKevvo

So what is die crazing? Splain please!

K

errormaven

It's a rare pattern of very superficial cracks that form a meshwork on the die face. If you look at pottery glaze covering an old ceramic bowl or vase, you'll usually see crazing.

19Lyds

I submitted the coin to Mike Diamond so look for this coin and some others in an upcoming Coin World Collectors' Clearinghouse article on "die crazing".

ctf_error_coins

Awesome find, congratulations

ModCrewman

I agree very cool find. I get a kick out of the term "Die Crazing" like...everyone looked at it and thought, "That's Crazy!" and so they jut went with it for the name of the phenomena.

errormaven

My column on die crazing currently appears in the online edition of the Feb. 24 issue of Coin World. Lee Lydston's coin features prominently.

19Lyds

Thanks Mike!

errormaven

The public domain version of my column can be found here:

http://www.coinworld.com/articles/die-crazing-leaves-coins-with-spiderweb-of-fi

19Lyds

<< <i>The public domain version of my column can be found here:

http://www.coinworld.com/articles/die-crazing-leaves-coins-with-spiderweb-of-fi >>

Die Crazing Link

LanceNewmanOCC

<< <i>I agree very cool find. I get a kick out of the term "Die Crazing" like...everyone looked at it and thought, "That's Crazy!" and so they jut went with it for the name of the phenomena. >>



+1
.

MsMorrisine

have to wonder if at some point down the road some chips fell out....

Jcarney

It doesn't look like any die polish I've ever seen.

CaptHenway

"Still crazing after all these years, whooooooooah!"

dcarr

When I was over-striking 1964 Kennedy Half Dollars to put a "1963" date on them,
the first step in the process was to bead-blast the host coins to take all the gunk off.
The coins would look fine prior to the bead-blasting. But the bead blasting caused
blisters to form where there were pockets of gunk trapped just under the surface.
Further bead-blasting would eat through the very thin layer of metal and expose
the pocket, which sometimes contained black contaminants.

After bead-blasting coins from many different years, I have concluded that the
metal integrity on the 1964 silver coins is the worst of any 900 fine silver US Mint
products ever produced. The 1950s coins and before are much better. From 1960
to 1964, the closer to 1964, the worse they get. I think the urgency with which the
coins were produced in the mid 1960s contributed to the lower planchet quality.

That said, the close-up pictures cleary show (to me) that there are flow lines coming
off the die defects. So these are defects in the die, not the planchet.

MsMorrisine

<< <i>When I was over-striking 1964 Kennedy Half Dollars to put a "1963" date on them,
the first step in the process was to bead-blast the host coins to take all the gunk off.
The coins would look fine prior to the bead-blasting. But the bead blasting caused
blisters to form where there were pockets of gunk trapped just under the surface.
Further bead-blasting would eat through the very thin layer of metal and expose
the pocket, which sometimes contained black contaminants.

After bead-blasting coins from many different years, I have concluded that the
metal integrity on the 1964 silver coins is the worst of any 900 fine silver US Mint
products ever produced. The 1950s coins and before are much better. From 1960
to 1964, the closer to 1964, the worse they get. I think the urgency with which the
coins were produced in the mid 1960s contributed to the lower planchet quality.

That said, the close-up pictures cleary show (to me) that there are flow lines coming
off the die defects. So these are defects in the die, not the planchet. >>





do you think the lower quality of planchets could have accelerated the die crazing process?

dcarr

<< <i>

<< <i>When I was over-striking 1964 Kennedy Half Dollars to put a "1963" date on them,
the first step in the process was to bead-blast the host coins to take all the gunk off.
The coins would look fine prior to the bead-blasting. But the bead blasting caused
blisters to form where there were pockets of gunk trapped just under the surface.
Further bead-blasting would eat through the very thin layer of metal and expose
the pocket, which sometimes contained black contaminants.

After bead-blasting coins from many different years, I have concluded that the
metal integrity on the 1964 silver coins is the worst of any 900 fine silver US Mint
products ever produced. The 1950s coins and before are much better. From 1960
to 1964, the closer to 1964, the worse they get. I think the urgency with which the
coins were produced in the mid 1960s contributed to the lower planchet quality.

That said, the close-up pictures cleary show (to me) that there are flow lines coming
off the die defects. So these are defects in the die, not the planchet. >>





do you think the lower quality of planchets could have accelerated the die crazing process? >>



Possibly. But since this effect has not been observed in this extreme on other 1964 Kennedy dies,
it is possible that these two dies were not heat-treated properly and/or were made of defective steel.

Ajjohnson77

Looks like some summer help tried using 220 sandpaper on that die.