1955s- What causes this?

[slikrep]

I was wondering what causes the fill-in on the 5, the 9, and S.
And does the liberty look bolder than normal or not? Thank you!

[coop]

The dies when they are made are negatives of the coin. Where the lowest design of the die is, it is the outside of the die. Where the devices (Letters/Numbers/Designs) are located is deep into the die. So where letters/numbers like 5/D/0/O/9/B/6 (or others) the center post can break off. The post is a raised area on the die, to make the center of the devices. When these break off the die, then that area is no longer shaped by the dies during the striking process. Thus the area can at times be taller than the devices, if the crack/chip/break is deeper than the deeper devices. So the distortion is noticed on the coins.