Coinsandcanada.com

Hello everyone,

Can someone help to me explain what is happening with this coin? It looks like there are a few die breaks, but what is going on with the feature through the 'IMP' on the obverse?

Dutchie

Looks like a die crack to me.

tombac wasn't a good choice for coins.
so many die cracks
https://www.coinsandcanada.com/coins-pr ... -1937-1952

The dies were made from steel. Wartime steel had some very stiff alloys used ... some of it "ballistic steel" used in tanks and other vehicles. I used to have to repair ships made during the war and ballistic steel on the decks and superstructure would crack easily, once started. It would take any type banging or direct force extremely well, but flexing/bending caused problems. These were ships that were not wartime .. they were just built then with the kinds of steel available then. Ballistic steel was a real chore to weld.

Since tombac is softer than nickel, maybe the mint thought that the dies would last longer, leading to more die cracks from overuse.

I think that only the crack from the "V" is a die crack .. the other not. D/C's start where there is an extreme stress concentration pt. The sharp edges of the ends of the serifs on the letters "N's, T's, I's, V's) etc are stress concentration points because of the radical change of direction of the die cut. Denticles were also main culprits in any year. I don't think that they used the dies longer, I just think that they developed cracks earlier. It was a tough time to get anything made out of steel, brass, copper, etc during those war times.

Hi Bill, I tend to agree with your assessments, but check out the “1964 1 cent is this a die crack” on coin community under Canadian variety and error coins. It looks to be a die crack across the bottom of the bust.

I was going to comment on it when it was posted, but I decided not. I don't think that it was a die crack. It's at the very bottom of the deepest recess of the die. I think it was from when the die was made.