RWB

It's been my observation that gold plated medals seem to always have defects. What have you noticed?

The scratch overlays part of the rim at left, then continues at uniform width across but not touching the right rim. Notice the plowed up metal just above the wing. Die cracks are not this uniform and regular -- they follow invisible crystal boundaries. Might have been done with a knife -- seems too deep for a staple -- and the coin was used long after it was scratched. Compare details to the 1921 dollar.

Trying to analyze the date/mint/denomination distribution of a hoard is pointless unless provenance to this hoard can be established for all pieces under consideration.

Do they mention "Bi-valve" cracks, too....

Notice that the winner's name was punched into an inset which fit in a space on the Bison side die. This was a good way to avoid the occasionally sloppy manually engraved names found on many award medals. The same "inset recipient die" approach was used on the Columbian Exposition medals made by Scovill for the Commission.

Hmmm....If West Point Mint ships the coins to the distributor in FIFO order, and the distribution center maintains this identical order, then the coin might be among those struck during the first 30 days of production. However, distribution order to the wholesale buyers has no relationship to striking date or order of manufacture - the two are separate actions. BTW -- very nice looking ASE !

Minor semantic issue. "Shattered" means a die has broken into pieces and those pieces are no longer connected. This coin was struck from a "broken" or "cracked" die with retained cud.

Minor die chip of no special value. Please stay away from the U-Tube videos. You'll learn much more by asking questions here.

"Adjectivally graded coins" are ones that have been graded by graders who have adjectives for names rather than the customary nouns. "Fingerpriint-Lucy" "Scratchy-Tallahassee-Jose" and "LyeingTwit-Don" are examples. Closely related to epithetically, apathetically, and pathetically graded coins. There are also adverbially graded coins, but that requires more space to describe.

Very nice collection! How about enlarging one so all can see the excellent design.

In Wisconsin, yep.

Everything Wisconsin is famous for starts with the letter "C."

Just damage.

A filled die coin will have normal weight. A coin with metal removed will be lighter than normal.

Kevin added this on another site to remain nameless "There is going to be a second auction of certified non die varieties such as my collection of buffalo nickels, and also a 1974-D silver Ike, one of my favorite coins. This is something new for Heritage, especially including the links for the books, they have been extremely helpful."

He might have done all he could with the equipment and references available. That reinforces the desirability of sending the coin to NGC. They have resources and experience that Witter Coin's staff do not. Let us all know how it turns out. (The "Star Wars like weapon" was probably a portable XRF (X-ray fluorescence) gun for measuring alloy composition without damaging the coin. Most look like an electric hand drill with a tiny TV screen.)

Lots of interesting varieties here and a great many coins that have been featured in Kevin's books. Hope the sale goes really well! I've put the link and reference to Morgan and Peace dollars on VAMworld.

"RD" is used for copper, bronze and brass. That's why the label is a mistake, and probably why it was re-holdered. Presumably the top "photo" is of the original slab.

In this instance, I don't want to guess from the photos. (I have a proof purchased long ago, but it's sitting in a bank box along with my supply of original Skippy Peanut Butter and a fifth of "Ole Pappy.")

Nice find....hope your eyes are OK. What do you plan to do with the nickels?

'Cause it's a mistake.

So, should all clad coins be precoated with ferrous sulfate? MM's explanation is satisfactory for the Kennedy half. We can speculate that if it were dug from common acidic soil, an initial corrosion rate of 0.005mm for the first year or two is reasonable, and approximately 0.002mm per year thereafter for 75-25 copper nickel clad alloy. Apply these rates to the thickness of half dollar cladding to get the number of years of burial necessary to sacrifice almost all the nickel. [See. "Copper Alloys in Seawater: Avoidance of Corrosion," R. Francis, CDA-Publication 225 - February 2016.] MM just does not have the chemical background to accurately explain his "... 'exchange of copper' or being 'covered in copper molecules' which sounds like a much vaulted 'molecular copper effervescences' process" he keeps mistakenly referring to.

Look for the variety on VAMworld. To be credited with a discovery you'll need to write a description and demonstrate to the VAM collectors that it is NOT a known variety. That means posting your write-up on their discussion thread and defending it while members offer comments and their own ideas. Here are PCGS' photos of both sides:

Please explain the chemistry of how this happens. What happened to nickel?

The name suggests that debris stuck to a die. Multiple coins were struck, each showing a different stage of deterioration in the debris.