1808 Large Cent, 12 Star

You don't need to be a copper expert to understand what's happening here; it's common to all coinage. The reverse is becoming a full Cud - the upper left quadrant of the die is no longer connected to the rest of it, but it's still there. Under repeated strikings, it's being eroded under the surface. Die material is being broken off the bottom of the Cud piece, and it's gradually sinking. Die sinking is a process, not a point occurrence.

The original coin here is a later die state than the one TJ posted second. On the second, more of the original die supports its' surface, leading to a more detailed strike. On the original coin, the Cud has sunk so low that an even strike across both faces is no longer possible. The star disappears from the obverse. The die crack (being physically small to begin with) disappears from ONE except at its' strongest points.

I'm inclined to think this die broke early in the process, yet lasted a long time after. I think it cracked and was then removed for a bit of polishing to help remove the crack, as earlier states have the dies in alignment but the later states as illustrated here have the obverse die clearly misaligned.

Fascinating. I may have to toss the baby out with the bathwater here; that star appears in various levels of strike unrelated to the progression of the Retained Cud. I wonder if the problem for which the die was removed was improper basining, with the die having a low spot at that star.

Good catch TJsCoins! I looped it and there is a faint crack from D to the wreath. I cant see anything in or around the S or from the D to the S. I think this would absolutely confirm that mine was minted prior to the other two. The die crack from the D to the wreath must have occurred first. still does not explain example 2 with full die crack and a star#1. the only thing I can think of is that it was struck with more force as attested to by the clash marks and SsuperDdave's comment, this could account for the star showing on this one and not on yours. Do we have it!

Panzaldi, I think it is figuring itself out in my head:) To me the lack of the star in question is boiling down to poor strike, die sinking, and possibly some basining. It is still curious to me that there seems to no sign of that star when it is not present.

Conder, thanks for helping out! If you don't mind me asking, what is your die state reference?

I'd still suggest die grease as the culprit. For the same reasons as SuperD mentioned, the die breaks make for a weaker strike. For one, the metal is flowing into the cracks. At the same time and for the same reasons, die grease should exacerbate the problem.

Drsandman2, can you explain die grease,what is its purpose and how could it produce the results we are seeing. do you think that it could have filled my star#1 and mine may not be a true S-277?

Here are a couple more examples that appear to be die grease.