1952 D Lincoln 30% Off Center On Odd Planchet

The texture of the unstruck crescent on the obverse certainly resembles that of a split planchet. Comparing slab weights is not reliable. If you crack it out, and the coin's weight is normal, then we will have to consider more exotic scenarios, such as a rolled-in texture.

Just a quick follow-up. I have a friend who worked at the Denver Mint during this era. I talked with him last night. He remembered the knuckle-joint presses very well, and not fondly. He said that he never saw them used for anything except quarters and half dollars.

I think we can scratch the knucklers from the list of possibilities.

Freed from its plastic tomb! With the weight being correct, I guess we are down to some exotic explanations. I look forward to learning more.

The normal weight leaves me uncertain as to what's going on. If it's a rolled-in texture, the substance responsible is a mystery. I suppose a very thin split-off sheet of copper could have been dislodged and landed on this area of otherwise normal strip, imparting the texture of its split face, but that's just a wild guess. Another possibility is that this was originally a thick planchet, and the loss of a thin layer before the strike restored it to an approximately normal weight.

A third possibility is that one of the rollers was coated with a lumpy substance that was stretched out in the direction of the moving strip. That substance then left a corresponding uneven yet linear texture in the strip.

well congrats Willburton on the potential write up of your coin.

nice coin--this is one I have---