87s Morgan Planchet Error

[rynegold-migration]

I have this coin:

 

 

97sdamaged004 by rynegold, on Flickr[/img]

 

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8800/17058762480_e23e3e49fa_c.jpg' alt='17058762480_e23e3e49fa_c.jpg'>97sdamaged005 by rynegold, on Flickr[/img]

 

Comments anyone?

 

regards, mitch

[RWB]

Can you post a better closeup of the defect?

[Mr.Mcknowitall]

I have this coin:

 

 

97sdamaged004 by rynegold, on Flickr[/img]

 

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8800/17058762480_e23e3e49fa_c.jpg' alt='17058762480_e23e3e49fa_c.jpg'>97sdamaged005 by rynegold, on Flickr[/img]

 

Comments anyone?

 

regards, mitch

 

I wish I had it in hand. It has the appearance of a botched repair attempt and applied heat.

 

I have seen a cleft - like slash on a Morgan before, but it was on an orange peel coin.

 

I can't quite tell from your pictures, although I do note left (left side viewing picture) lower obverse between hair and stars.

[rynegold-migration]

That's about as good a pic as I can take. And as to heat or repairs; I don't think so. I've become pretty good at seeing monkey business from actual errors and this looks to be the real deal. That said I don't think it's anything major; just interesting. I've seen what looked similar to this when someone poked a hole in a coin w/ a pocketknife blade. However you can barely "see" a little something in the middle of the wound (for lack of a better adjective) in my pix. I'm pretty sure it's an imperfection in the sheet of silver, just curious if it comes up often in silver coins in general.

 

Edit, better pix:

 

DSC09190 by rynegold, on Flickr[/img]

[RWB]

One plausible option is that the defect is from a copper oxide inclusion very close to the surface of the rolled strip. When the planchet was struck, the difference in density between silver alloy and copper oxide caused a bulge and surface fracture.

 

That is only a guess until much better images are available.

[Kurtdog]

I've seen these. It's not post-mint, but in the same family as a lamination. It's an error.

[Coindude]

My first thought was damage, but the bulge around the crack is too large for a simple gouge like that. So at this point, I'm at a ... heck I don't know.

[messydesk]

Without the crack, it would be classified as occluded gas. With the crack, it's a lamination. If you poke it with a stick, you should be able to deform it further. No bonus value points for this one, since it's small.

[Kurtdog]

It's probably trapped gas that just popped as it rose, John; tore, separated, opened up the surface, like a volcano.