I took a little time to try to get a few shots of one of these Venezuelan coin that I think is showing die cracks / die wear issues and see what everyone thinks, both using the Nikon with the Micro lens and the new Coin Microscope.
Looking at this (50 Bolivar) in person, and looking at it in the photo with the macro lens and this lighting, that line along the back of the neck definitely looks raised above the design and not cut into it and so I'm thinking more and more that this is a die crack and not post mint damage. The fact that I have two of these with what look like identical marks re-enforces this for me as, what are the odds of that?
The odd looking bits in the corners along the edge of the hexagon also look like they're the result of die state issues and not PMD. Overall, the coin looks very very clean with regard to what I think is actually PMD, and I think the coin could actually grade pretty darn well.
Below I have some of the microscope images:
Oddly (maybe not to those who have more experience with such things), I think the Nikon and the Macro lens did a better job of capturing the neck crack and making it more clear that it probably is a crack and not a scratch, but I find it interesting to see the texture and the details captured by the microscope in the rim areas.
The below is a different 50 Bolivar coin's reverse:
This is a 100 Bolivar:
At some point I need to make a new banner image based around the Venezuelan Coins to compliment the Italian and Zimbabwean/10G themed ones.
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