RWB

If this is accurate, then the person giving you such information is an incompetent lout, and completely untrustworthy. Merely a humble opinion.....

It's one of several enjoyable and informative Summer Seminar classes available at nominal cost. Take some grading classes, too!

There are lots of cents with minor defects and errors -- they are made by the billions. In the 1960s a guy named Spadone tried to popularize (and profit) from "BIE" errors -- which were common die cracks and breaks between B and E in the word LIBERTY. The stuff had a short shelf-life and remain common and virtually worthless.

Obvious damage.

Note that the Cherrypicker's Guide says, "...possibly received an S mintmark..." Read that to mean: "might but we can't really tell."

The 1857 half is not AU. It appears to be a low-end EF or upper VF, depending on details not clear in the photo.

"Things" are temporary. "Truthful Values" are permanent.

You guys could have taken Amtrak and slept all the way home. I refuse to fly unless it is necessary. Airlines were once customer friendly, but with the accountants in charge, passengers might as well be chickens on their way to a Purdue plant.

No numismatic value.

There are many mintmark and die varieties that are not mentioned on TOPG labels. One of the easiest to locate are 1934-D Doubled Die obverse silver dollars.

The "True" Mountain Dew !

Nice. Did this rattle around in the dryer tub, or was it caught in moving machinery....Good start to an illustrated guide to mechanical damage. (If someone will put it together and long with accurate explanations, I'll publish it.)

A hub defect will be reproduced on millions of coins. A die defect on about 500,000. A good spot to start looking for die/hub commonalities is on the top surface of the date and inscriptions. These are deep in the die and are more likely to be produced during die/hub manufacture, whereas field defects (such as those near the date) can occur at any stage of die manufacture or use.

Interesting die chips and nice that you found 3, presumably from the same original roll. This confirms the obverse die as being the source. Is there anything unique about the reverses?

Mint HQ in Washington DC has a small retail sales area in the lobby. They also sell BEP souvenir sheets (towels, blankets, etc.).

Interesting. I wonder if someone could assemble a sort of index to the causes of repetitive coin damage? Might be a small but interesting general reference.

This in the "Big Foot" and "Yeti" category of nonsense. Add some critical thinking and the "mystery" vanishes.

Long ago my cousin and I would "mine" the local high school's rifle range (yes, we had one and could bring our own rifles to school - less the firing pin or bolt) for lead from the .22 bullets. We had an NRA (back before NRA became political and angry) marksmanship program for "activity period" and used .22 Longs. On a good Saturday, we could dig 10 to 20 pounds out of the hillside. The only rule was to put the dirt back and pick out any stones that might cause a ricochet. (Other people used the firing range on weekends and non-school days, too.) We would melt the lead in clean steel cans and cast it into fishing weights in a mold. Caught hell from my grandmother one time when my cousin's can split and lead split on her kitchen stove.

...or twiddled between V. Putin's fingers.... Oh...not fair to the nickel...... sorry. Should have added: хвала і слава Україні !

Yeah! And what about hair dryers, and paint dryers, and....and....other stuff dryers....?

I thought it was supposed to have been King Henry VIII ?

(The mm should "move" in relation to reference lines, not the other way around.)

What kind of commercial dryer or washer ever accepted nickels?

a bit of an age difference....

Thanks for the cross-ref. The Denver token was valued at 25-cents, so that explains why there's not printed value. Presumably there were either no other tokens in use, or the others were clearly differentiated from this one.