Figures 1-3: Three pictures of the same U.S. one cent in different lighting conditions.This is something that has nagged at me for a few weeks now. Finally I grabbed a 2022-P cent and tried to replicate the phenomenon that I feel happens more often than folks realize.
On current generation working dies, there is a deterioration phenomenon that happens on the surface. It is a super shallow, very fine feathering adjacent to devices. It is almost like super fine, aligned scratches.. However, when photographed in diffused light—particularly cents photographed in indirect sunlight, yellowish fluorescent light, or incandescent light—that delicate feathering catches the light and appears quite solid and substantial. Sometimes it even appears level with the parent device. When you subject the coin surface to harsh LED light or turn the coin relative to the light source, the perceived thickness disappears, and the micro-scuffing is revealed.
I think this trick of the light is easier to detect on cupronickel surfaces, because when the silvery surface catches sunlight, it reflects in a different color than the silvery devices. On cents, the copper color favors several component frequencies of sunlight and other "soft" lights, so the illusion can be very convincing.
On a true double, the feature stands above the surface. It might be harder to see in different lighting or different angles, but it is always physically present. That is true even of Class IX doubled dies. The doubling isn't a surface phenomenon, it is physically raised or incuse with a real volume of metal. If you pushed the coin into Play Doh, that doubled feature would leave a physical mark. The deterioration ghosts would not (unless they were really, really eaten into the die surface, as happens on some nickels).
Is this something that others have observed as well? If I am off base with these observations, I would be happy to see the proof as to why.
*** Moved by Staff moved to a more appropriate forum. *** 
Posted 10/09/2023 09:06 am
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