1943 Lincoln Cent - Struck Through(?)

@-makecents-, thanks for the explanation on this one!

Cool find.

Well @makecents, had asked my question here. it looks raised to me as well (judging by the shadows.) it is most likely a die gouge.

it looks like it makes a sharp right turn at the bottom - could this be a dropped letter? ("L" in this case)

Very nice!

Thanks for all of the feedback and great information here. Here is a closer pic of the area in question. Unsure if this helps.

The closeup photo is excellent. I rotated and cropped the image, so that it is oriented vertically in line with the "L" of LIBERTY. I marked the die crack that runs through the rim on its way toward the back of Lincoln's head. The teal colored arrows point to the crack.



What I see is the die crack runs WSW-ENE just above the "L" and passes through the anomaly.

There are others with a lot more knowledge than I have here, and I certainly yield to others' opinions. As I'm looking at this, I see four decent possibilities. There may well be more.

(1) This is a struck-through error. In that case, some object would have been in position between the obverse die and the planchet. In that case, the anomaly would be incuse. Question: if an object was positioned between the die and planchet, wouldn't the impression of the die crack have been on the object, rather than the coin, in the affected area?

(2) This is a planchet defect that existed before striking, and is just coincidentally located. That could also be incuse. Question: If the area was recessed enough to survive the strike, wouldn't the impression of the die crack be weaker through the recessed area? It looks just as strong as the areas outside the anomaly. EDIT: I suppose there could also be a raised defect on a planchet, but I could see that causing trouble earlier in the minting process.

(3) This is a dropped letter (generically, it could be any dropped design element). In that case, it would be raised on the coin's surface, and would have received the impression of the die crack when the planchet was struck. If this anomaly is raised, a dropped letter would seem to be in play. Question: is it raised or is it incuse?

(4) This is post-mint damage from something that contacted the coin in this area. The location could be purely coincidental. In that case, it would be incuse. Post-mint damage would occur on top of the die crack, which would already have been struck onto that surface. Questions: would there be evidence of that in the details along the two opposite sides of the recessed area? And again, is this raised or incuse?

Just some thoughts as I pondered this.

so the question remains is: is it raised or incuse?

(Personally I think it is raised)