Mercury Dimes With Busted Dies - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 6 / Views: 2,176
CaptainFwiffo Pillar of the Community United States 4132 Posts	Posted 09/01/2011 8:22 pm I picked up this 1940-S out of my dealer's bargain bin for close to melt. I thought it might have been cleaned, but when I took a closer look, I noticed that the obverse die was about to fly apart. The crack appears to go all the way across the die, and part of the die is breaking loose and created that raised triangular area. It's hard to see in the pictures, but there is some die burn around the bust, and there is evidence of clashing on the reverse as well. Here's another - my brother and I found this 1943 among our coin collections that we had as kids. Neither of us was really into Mercs at the time, so we don't really know where they came from, but this one shows an impressive die crack circling the entire reverse, along with some clashing. No great rarities, but fun nonetheless. Report this Post to the Staff

robbudo Pillar of the Community United States 2757 Posts	Posted 09/01/2011 8:55 pm NICE find. Report this Post to the Staff
John1 Moderator United States 56855 Posts	Posted 09/02/2011 06:44 am I have one from the teens (i think) that has about eight die cracks on the obverse so it must be kinda common on mercs. John1 Report this Post to the Staff
CaptainFwiffo Pillar of the Community United States 4132 Posts	Posted 09/02/2011 09:55 am Yeah, I've noticed more minor cracks on several others of mine. Clash marks (and polishing to cover the clash marks) is almost the rule on some dates. The '40-S also has the common wingtip-to-rim crack (maybe two of them now that I look at the picture again). Report this Post to the Staff
SsuperDdave Moderator United States 23522 Posts	Posted 09/02/2011 10:21 am I'm left wondering what was happening in San Francisco during the Mercury mintage. The quantity minted wasn't particularly huge; did they perhaps get improperly-annealed dies? From my collection, also 1940-S: Report this Post to the Staff
CaptainFwiffo Pillar of the Community United States 4132 Posts	Posted 09/02/2011 11:10 am All the dies were made at Philadelphia, and Denver was making superb dimes at the time (aside from the damaged that had occurred to the master hub over the course of the series.) The S mint dimes also show more clashing and evidence of polishing (I see clashing and polishing on your '40-S, and mine has a broken nose), so I assume that they suffered from poorly adjusted presses. Report this Post to the Staff
arsave Valued Member United States 225 Posts	Posted 09/05/2011 1:40 pm Nice find. There are many cracked dies in the series. It just adds to the fun. Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 6 / Views: 2,176

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