Help with Kennedy 1964D Doubled Die

[Korinian-migration]

I found this coin in a roll of Kennedy halves. I haven't seen anything regarding a strike error for this date. Am I seeing this correctly?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[EVillageProwler]

Omigosh... My first attempt at a question involving Kennedy halves...

 

Korinian,

 

First, I know next to nothing interesting about this series. Second, what you showed us in the images is hardly uncommon and is more likely mechanical doubling than real die doubling that is from when the die was first created. Third, you'd best wait for someone more familiar with this series to answer you...

 

EVP

 

[gmarguli]

1) It's machine doubling and has no premium.

 

2) There are a TON of true doubled (and tripled and quadrupled) dies for the 1964 P&D Kennedys. Only a couple have any real added value.

 

3) EVP doesn't want to admit it, but he is a real Kennedy connoisseur.

[TomB]

I agree with EVP, it looks very much like machine doubling. So much so, that I will state that it is machine doubling. If you look at many Indian Head cents you will see this same effect. If the coin were truly a doubled die, you would expect to see the secondary image with more relief than the shallow relief this one shows. Additionally, if there are serifs involved, you would see the serifs distinct from one another and not overlapping.

[keithdagen]

3) EVP doesn't want to admit it, but he is a real Kennedy connoisseur.

 

Something we've long suspected.

[EVillageProwler]

Ok, guys, let's not get nasty here. We wouldn't want this place turning into a typical thread across the street with all sorts of insults and what-not!

 

 

EVP

 

[Korinian-migration]

Thanks for the information. I'm new at this... couldn't tell could you I know it's probably a stupid question but what is Mechanical Doubling?

[braddick]

In simple terms it is when a die "bounces" off the coin. Not anywhere like true doubling and carries no premium.

[Beijim]

There are no stupid questions, only stupid people . It's a good question.

 

Mechanical doubling (technically "mechanical doubling damage") occurs just after the coin is struck and prior to or during the ejection of the struck planchet from between the dies. There are two schools of thought on what occurs. Some believe the damage occurs because one or both dies bounce during striking, while others feel the die shifts or rotates in its mounting, in effect bulldozing initially struck device material aside. In either case, the damage occurs because one or both of the dies are loose in their mountings and disrupt the initial, clean strike. Mechanical doubling is very common and deserves no substantial premium above undamaged specimens.

 

Die doubling, on the other hand, occurs when the die itself is manufactured. The die blank is pressed against the hub (which bears the coin design as a positive sculpted image) multiple times in order to achieve the proper depth and relief in the die. Should any rotation occur between hub and die during the multiple pressings, an offset version of the coin's devices occurs. The result is a doubled die. A doubled die transfers its ghosted image to every coin it strikes. Note that the term "double die" is meaningless and incorrect. There are not two dies, but rather a single die whose image has been doubled.

 

An interesting diagnostic exists for coins where it's known that the mint mark was applied by hand, with a punch, to the die after its manufacture. If you find a coin bearing a doubled mint mark from such a die, you know at minimum that mechanical doubling damage occurred. Of course, it's also possible for such damage to occur on coins struck from true doubled dies, but a doubled mint mark in either case can occur only through machine doubling.

 

Beijim