Thunderbolt die crack on this 1839 Large Cent

TopographicOceans

It's PCGS MS64 (not mine)
I think it's kind of cool

oih82w8

Yepers...that obverse die is moving into the terminal stage lightning fast!

coinnut

Here's mine though maybe not so pronounced.

LanceNewmanOCC

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neat bisectors and nice coins.

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ms70

I get a real charge out of that coin.

NumisOxide

Great bisecting die crack and rim cuds!

Walkerguy21D

Looks to be the N-9 Silly Head.
I have the same one, but in a considerably lower grade than that beauty.
Interestingly enough, the N-1 39/6, Head of '36 variety, and the N-12 Booby Head all have
late die state bisecting obverse cracks.

BigMoose

This is a nice example of a Newcomb-9, Silly Head Large Cent. It looks to be a middle die state, as the later die state develops three obverse rim breaks, one above star 6, one above stars 7 and 8, and one mainly above stars 9 and 10. A very nice example of the late die state N-9 can be found on Coinfacts under 1839 1C Silly Head BN. It is the 66+BN example pictured.

BigMoose

On second look, the coin pictured in this thread appears to have the start of the three obverse rim breaks.

DCW

Really neat die crack on a classic coin. Thanks for posting it

ricko

Very nice example..... a real keeper there...Cheers, RickO

oih82w8

What is going on (with these Silly Heads) with the hole in the ear?



The "Normal Head has a "pimple" (raised area) in the same location.

CaptHenway

Originally posted by: oih82w8

What is going on (with both of these imaged Silly Heads) with the hole in the ear?

There are numerous dies, obverse and reverse on several denominations, in this era that have holes like this in the center. The best theory I have heard, which I believe is correct, is that the hubs had small holes in their centers so that when they lined up a cone-shaped die blank under the hub they could line up the point of the cone in the hole in the hub to make sure that the die and hub were properly centered.



After it was hubbed, the die would have a small pimple in the middle formed by the hole in the hub. It would be very simple for the engraver to whittle this pimple away before the die was hardened, leaving just the intended design, but sometimes he forgot to do so. The result was a coin with a hole in the center.



TD

golden

Originally posted by: DCW
Really neat die crack on a classic coin. Thanks for posting it

oih82w8

Thanks Captain!