Posted 07/25/2012 11:02 am
papatony is correct. The anomaly with the 'R' of 'LIBERTY' is simply a heavy hit by something else that caused some of the metal in the letter to scoot over. The problem with 'STATES' and the steps on the reverse is caused by the fact that the coin was not fully and completely struck-up. There wasn't enough pressure in the strike to 'fill-in' these details. This is a very common thing with a lot of coins from the days before the current method of making coins (prior to about 1997). The details were higher back then, and it took more pressure to strike the coins. The Mint sets the presses at the minimum strike strength to strike-up the details, but the tolerance here is a fraction of a millimeter. If the machine slips even a little, strike pressure changed, and this occurred.
