Major Die breakup **Large Pic Warning** Help on this one.

[JRocco]

I posted this ATS but wanted some thoughts from some of my friends here.

This is a Pope Paul IIII papal medal that has some serious die issues.

I have been asked if this might be a cast piece. I did not think these were cast, but I may be off base on that one. The die break is SOOO deep it shows as a huge shadow over the medal if only lit from one side.

Any thoughts on how this one occurred would be appreciated as I am stumped on this one. I believe that this is a mid 19th century restrike of a 1500's piece.

This planchet is paper thin at the rims and bulges out in the center. Kinda like the bottom of a weebles wobble....

P.S. - I love interesting stuff like this piece.

[bsshog40]

Now those are some major die cracks!!

[MunkyMan95]

Holy . Now THAT'S a die break!

[physics-fan3.14]

Holy Cow! That is amazing!

[jesbroken]

What in the world kept the die together? Fantastic die breaks. Largest I have ever viewed. Great piece.

[MorganMan]

To answer your question, I am seeing things with those breaks that do not go with metal flow from a strike, so I am going to say it is a cast piece.

 

Maybe the die(mold) cracked from the heat when it was poured?

 

MM

[JRocco]

To answer your question, I am seeing things with those breaks that do not go with metal flow from a strike, so I am going to say it is a cast piece.

 

Maybe the die(mold) cracked from the heat when it was poured?

 

MM

 

Maybe...

[moovyz]

I am not very educated when it comes to die cracks. But as one who understnds the physics involved in pressing metal, etc...

 

 

He described the coins planchet as paper thin and the obverse seems to be very normal, suggesting a cast piece where one half of mold cracked from pour. I can't see this much metal being displaced from a stamping of a thin planchet without some evidence of it on the obverse. I'd be curious to weigh this piece against a normal example. I'll bet it weighs more.

[cpm9ball]

It looks like a cast copy to me, too!

 

Chris

[MikeInFL]

As we discussed, when I saw the coin, my first reaction was a cast. The "die cracks" are way, way too "tall" to be a real die crack and the coin has the surfaces of a casting -- at least to my way of thinking and eye...Mike