Posted 06/15/2006 3:24 pm
The break in the 8, like many of the little breaks which appear in the lettering of the motto, are not in and of themselves usually worthy of a VAM designation, because they're too common. You can find that chip in many, if not most, years of mintage.
The breast indentation is more interesting. I'm thinking it was a planchet defect. A foreign object in the die would have imparted much sharper edges, and grease would have made the area flat rather than concave. However, if there were an indented area in the planchet, it might survive the strike, albeit much smaller.
My knowledge doesn't extend to 1885 esoterica; that might be an existing error which has been seen before but not designated as a VAM. I have a couple substantial errors which have no VAM number yet, myself.
The breast indentation is more interesting. I'm thinking it was a planchet defect. A foreign object in the die would have imparted much sharper edges, and grease would have made the area flat rather than concave. However, if there were an indented area in the planchet, it might survive the strike, albeit much smaller.
My knowledge doesn't extend to 1885 esoterica; that might be an existing error which has been seen before but not designated as a VAM. I have a couple substantial errors which have no VAM number yet, myself.
It's a generic name they gave to that type of strike. Don't quit your day job....very cool, but no real premium. Thanks for sharing it.
