1853 $1 Liberty Head Gold Planchet Error

The affected area is "deeper" than the rest of the coin. I originally thought it to be a lamination error but my dealer friend pointed out that the 1 is struck through along with some of the "dollar". That is why he thought it was an imperfection with the planchet before minting.

This is great info. Thanks for the help. The obverse of the coin is in pretty good shape. nice strong details all over. there is a die break near the stars at about 9 o clock. The error on the reverse would be from about 6 o clock to 9 o clock on the obverse.

Perhaps but not necessarily. Something like cloth, under the enormous pressure of striking, isn't going to have much left in the way of air voids and will effectively transfer pressure especially with softer gold being struck. The fact that the obverse is normally-struck pretty much proves that the coin was - somehow - "whole" when initially struck. That planchet void didn't exist prior to the strike, couldn't have existed. Whether that void was filled by a lamination which later disconnected, or grease or some other strikethrough material, remains to be proven but that space had to be taken up by something in order for the obverse to strike up.

My leaning right now is a strikethrough of something other than liquid. Grease won't leave such an irregular surface on the planchet, being a liquid which will be seeking an equal level even under strike pressure.