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1986 Silver Eagle

Started by jesbroken,

25 posts in this topic

jesbroken

jesbroken

Posted
Posted

15 years or so ago, i purchased a 1986 silver eagle(10 in fact) they have been stored in individual holders ever since. upon looking thru them i found one with what appears to be a beveled indention quite deep in it to the right of the eagles wing on the right side of the eagle. i have attached an image of it. any ideas as to how it occurred?

1554923-1986eagleerror.jpg.d043d54c4b1e4e886ef2e84b4685883e.jpg

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RWB

RWB

Posted
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Probably not a meteorite impact crater. Maybe you stored it next to some 1921 Morgans with "dots" and one of them replicated?

 

Or...might be mechanical damage from packaging equipment.....

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bsshog40

bsshog40

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He said he bought these straight from the mint, so no one else would have had contact?? It looks like there's a little swelling around the hole itself, which would mean it rose up? confused-smiley-013.gif

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cpm9ball

cpm9ball

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He said he bought these straight from the mint, so no one else would have had contact?? It looks like there's a little swelling around the hole itself, which would mean it rose up? confused-smiley-013.gif

 

He didn't say it was a proof. Did the Mint sell UNC's directly to customers during the first year of issue?

 

Chris

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bsshog40

bsshog40

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What's strange is why anyone would try a hardness test on silver. If they were in that much doubt as to being conterfeit, it should have been weighed (if that was the case).

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John Martinez

John Martinez

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I'm only giving my opinion of what it MIGHT be based upon looking at thousands of test on metals (not coins) by a Burnell and Rockwell tester. Why it would be done? Perhaps to test the tester and not the coin? Who knows?

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jesbroken

jesbroken

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sorry, but i did not purchase these directly from the mint, but at a coin show dealer in roanoke, virginia. many things could have happened to cause it but i just cannot figure what. i've attached another photo which enlarges it considerably, still doesn't help me. thanks

1555744-error2.jpg.0a5945fe3c36b00d533566d1ada17038.jpg

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cpm9ball

cpm9ball

Posted
Posted
sorry, but i did not purchase these directly from the mint, but at a coin show dealer in roanoke, virginia. many things could have happened to cause it but i just cannot figure what. i've attached another photo which enlarges it considerably, still doesn't help me. thanks

 

Based on your photo, I'd say it is post-Mint damage. You can see the "crater effect" that has built up around its perimeter. If this were produced at the Mint due to some foreign object on the surface of the die or planchet, you probably would not see this because of the metal flow.

 

Chris

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John Martinez

John Martinez

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sorry, but i did not purchase these directly from the mint, but at a coin show dealer in roanoke, virginia. many things could have happened to cause it but i just cannot figure what. i've attached another photo which enlarges it considerably, still doesn't help me. thanks

 

Based on your photo, I'd say it is post-Mint damage. You can see the "crater effect" that has built up around its perimeter. If this were produced at the Mint due to some foreign object on the surface of the die or planchet, you probably would not see this because of the metal flow.

 

Chris

 

I agree that it is post mint damage. The enlarged picture solidifies my belief in the possibility of a hardness test - post mint, of course. Being that he purchased it 15 years ago from someone else, speculation, based upon a SWAG, is all we will come up with.

 

jesbroken - If you know someone who has access to a lab or company that does hardness testing, they may be able to confirm if that is what happened.

 

 

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jesbroken

jesbroken

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thanks all, for your advice. i just couldn't for the life of me think that someone would do something intentionally to a beautiful coin. i actually purchased them just for silver content, so i guess i shouldn't be upset. thanks again to all of you.

jesbroken

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DC Dawg

DC Dawg

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This has certainly been an interesting discussion. Maybe you can submit this to NCS or ICG to see what they have to say about the crater? Just a thought. 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

 

Scott hi.gif

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WoodenJefferson

WoodenJefferson

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I have done both Burnell and Rockwell testing on different grades of steels (Rockwell C) and the representative hole/crater left in this coin appears to be just that...a test.

 

To me, this coin was purposely "destructively tested" in the assay process of minted bullion. The Mint assays bullion planchet metal as well as the planchets themselves along with some freshly minted coins. These first coins are not intended to be released for circulation, they are merely test coins to be destroyed once the analysis are completed.

 

Somehow me thinks this specimen escaped the Laboratory and got put into circulation by mistake.

 

The Burnell Test uses predetermined hydraulic pressure to indent the subject metal and then by looking through a magnification scope, you eyeball the width of the depression between two black lines and that determines the hardness.

 

A Rockwell Test also uses a predetermined hydraulic pressure but utilizes a depth measuring gauge to probe the bottom of the depression. This method of determining the hardness is a more accurate method because you are always starting at zero and measuring depth.

 

Both methods raise the edges of the test metals exactly as depicted on the coin. Even the shape and the bottom of the indentation replicate this kind of test...how sure am I...95% sure.

 

rockwell.jpg

Edit: it is very possible someone was just screwing around and wanted to see how hard this silver coin was on a hardness scale...it only takes a few minutes once your set up and you inturn bought damaged goods confused-smiley-013.gif

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John Martinez

John Martinez

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WoodenJefferson. Thanks for the technical explination. I was unaware that the mint did destructive testing; however, it does make sense, now that you have mentioned it.

 

First thing that came to my mind when I saw the first picture was "hardness test".

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