Lamination Flaw On 1909-S V D B

Nice example!

Way above my pay grade.

Looks genuine to me. The mintmark position is correct for die pair #3 as @MisterT mentioned. Sharper photos of the mintmark and the VDB would help to confirm. The end of the right wheat stalk appears a bit weak, so I suspect the lamination peeled off before the strike. It's a sought-after coin because of scarcity, and I think most collectors would want a coin in the best possible condition without defects. So I think the lamination would detract slightly from value, but at the price you paid, you got quite the bargain!

OK, took a little time playing around with a camera to get some pics that might be a tad clearer. The quality of the camera exceeds the skill level of the operator TBH, but I think these will be an improvement and might shed some light on this. I think the nature of the lamination issue is that it's quite thin, the metal there flaked off either before or after striking, but the metal under that was solid enough to fill the die.















ETA close-up of VDB for better analysis. The middle line of the B seems partly broken. Still kinda fuzzy on the close crop.

@ Zurie: thanks heaps!

Nice pictures - I like the way you captured the "Dot" in the S mintmark. And you show the shallow "N" in CENTS!

Plus "IF" cleaned - it was an old cleaning - I'd say market acceptable now a days!