Will wrote:Are these a rarity on your coinage?
Can't argue with Bill on the Vickies (and if I did I'd be completely out of my league), but I can say from some experience that it seems to depend on the era and denomination. This 1913, from my complete GRV set (pretty well all F to EF, therefore good enough not to have cracks worn off) is one of two dimes that I can spot an error on. The other is the 1915 with two very fine cracks joining letters in the obv inscription. Neither it nor the '13 did I acquire knowing they had die cracks. That's 2 out of 21 right there--1911-1936, although the pair are just prior to and during WWI.
Earlier... I have a couple die cracks on Victoria five and dimes that I can think of at the moment (cracks running leaf tips to rim -- probably quite common) and an ERVII dime seen
here The 40's seem to have been a run of bad quality but I imagine this can be attributed to conditions during WWII. Obviously nothing then went to waste and a die, like everything else, was used to its limits to conserve metal and time. Perhaps there was also a less-experienced staff working at the mint at the time due to enlistments. GRVI dimes that I have found die cracks on are: 1939, 41, 43, 44 and 48. All but the 1948 I found in circulation during the '70s. Recently I've seen a handful of Bluenose dimes with cracks through the "10 cents" being sold on ebay (without comment of the error). I'd be surprised if this particular flaw wasn't one of the most common across all Canadian denominations.
I've previously posted on George VI
penny and
nickel errors in this sub-forum. Check those out if you want.
Tried to buy this 1943 quarter on auction last week but somebody else spotted the cracks (not mentioned by the seller) and as these things often go, decided I wasn't paying enough for it. Again WWII.
![Image](http://www.coinsandcanada.com/forum/class/test/1943_25c_die_crack_rev_1.jpeg)
Cheers