I'm certainly not an expert on the Bust halves, particularly the Reeded Edge Bust halves, but I think we can be sure that they are die cracks and not planchet flaws. In fact, we can attribute that die marriage to the JR-2 1839-O, which cracked even more extensively than this. I believe this is a (Die) State a, as the die cracks match those described for that die state. State b is even more extensively cracked.
The New Orleans Mint, during that period, had all of its dies made at the die shop at the Mother Mint in Philadelphia. Due to the time it took to manufacture a die, and the time it took to ship it to New Orleans, dies were a precious commodity, and were used until no more coins could possibly be squeezed from them. I have seen New Orleans dies significantly more shattered than this, although it is a bit unusual to see it on an obverse die, as I believe the hammer (upper) die was the obverse for the Reeded Edge Bust halves, and extensive shattering of the hammer die would cause the pieces to simply fall out of the press due to gravity. Similar shattering of the reverse die could often be sustained, as the collar would often retain the broken pieces of the die.
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Comments
you think it may be a planchet flaw?
Al
The New Orleans Mint, during that period, had all of its dies made at the die shop at the Mother Mint in Philadelphia. Due to the time it took to manufacture a die, and the time it took to ship it to New Orleans, dies were a precious commodity, and were used until no more coins could possibly be squeezed from them. I have seen New Orleans dies significantly more shattered than this, although it is a bit unusual to see it on an obverse die, as I believe the hammer (upper) die was the obverse for the Reeded Edge Bust halves, and extensive shattering of the hammer die would cause the pieces to simply fall out of the press due to gravity. Similar shattering of the reverse die could often be sustained, as the collar would often retain the broken pieces of the die.
Thank you for the educational post.
Al
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