Strange Error? (1998 P Half)

I have little to add to my original conclusions. It's a piece of steel that was most likely squeezed into the coin's edge during the upsetting process. The magnetic signature does not extend very far into the body of the coin, indicating that the piece is more-or-less restricted to the exposed area. The grooves on the edge of the steel fragment are identical in spacing and appearance to reeding, which it undoubtedly is. The hard steel resisted the kind of wear that the soft copper core experienced during circulation. It'll make for a nice column in Coin World.

I will defer to your expertise. It didn't look the same to me until you pointed it out. Anyway, it's a fun little mystery and I look forward to your article.

Wow--it's great to come across these finds on CCF--I never even imagined that error!

The article on this embedded nodule can now be seen in the latest digital edition of Coin World (September 22). The article has not been placed in the public domain.

Please be advised that my editor completely messed up the last paragraph. It should have been referring to the half dollar, not a Canadian dime that was discussed in the previous paragraph.

Just my 2 cents.. (or 50 in this matter)... But the coin to me, from the pictures anyways, Look alot more like PMD to me then anything....Appears to be the work of a tool and die guy, who was experimenting on his first coin.....Now again, I can only judge off the pictures but it appears to be a practice coin for a removal or addition of a mint mark or designer initials. A good example of this would be 1909 vdbs with added S... one of this first things I check for on 1909-s vdb's and 1914-d's is around the rim for suspicious tool marks.

Staff edit, adding your continued comment from another post:

a little more to add, If it was indeed a hardened steel piece from minting that has resisted circulation, I feel like a die used for a cupro nickel strike would break leaving a Cud, or die cracks. Esp if the steel is only in one spot, causing a pressure imbalance......

That was cool - went and read the article - now to get it slabbed!

Magazine issue dates have nothing to do with ....well, anything.

That issue was available some time ago.

Anyway....

Very good article. We can always count on you, Mike Diamond.