2006 DDO / DDRs

[wavysteps2003]

I just finished taking a very fast look at the 2006 Lincoln cents that Murph sent me for my opinion and first let me say, CONGRATULATIONS Murph.

Something else struck me as I looked at these coins and it points to a potential problem that the Mint may have that in a way effects these varieties. The coins sent were between LEDS to maybe LMDS and out of the six different dies, four of them have rather large die cracks in the head area and one had even die chips. This points to a general weakness of the dies in this area which was not evident in any of the 2000-1-2-3-4-5 years.

Now what does that mean. The most important thing is that you will see shorter die life which limits the amount of a particular die variety. Another, though less important, is that we will see change outs, where a reverse die may have two obverse dies, one with the variety, the other without.

As I mentioned before, these doubled dies may not and probably are not limited to just the Lincoln cent. All 2006 coinage should be suspected of having a doubled die and looked at carefully.

You all have a good one and keep on searching and may Murph's luck be with you, LOL.

WAVYSTEPS2003

[murphy]

Thanks BJ. You, Bob, Chuck, y'all know your stuff when it comes to die states and recognizing a lack of quality control. I agree that this year I've already seen more crack-head Lincolns than I saw all of last year. I noticed quite a few last year too. I think their machinery budget was blown on equipment to make all those new bills and tooling up to make a different quarter every couple months. It's obvious that not enough attention is given to problems in the Lincoln Room at the Mint. But hey, who's complaining? Not me!

[Bob P]

It is real difficult to determine when a die will crack. I have seen many early die state coins with substantial cracks. I would think the striking pressure would have a lot to do with it as well. In addition, any time you are talking about metal, the possibilities of metal fatigue, improper annealing and other problems can creep into the picture.
However...as you say, who's complaining? Certainly not me!

[coop]

Usually what breaks dies are die clashes. But I didn't see any evidence on those coins as I recall. But Bob touched on another thing. Annealing. If the dies are too soft they wear out quicker, lose detail quicker and look crappier quicker. I think that happend in 2005 as I was trying to find the reverses with complete steps. Some of the 2005 didn't have steps (well most I found) and they looked like the 80's reverses. But if they are hardening the 2006 dies more or too much they probably break a lot quicker. BJ could be right about them being thinner, but I think they are too brittle and cracking earily in use. Maybe they will change the setup like they did in 1960 when the dies just didn't last at all. I have a EDS reverse on a 1960-D small date that had a die break in the earily die states. So maybe they will do something different to correct their procedure, but till then:
BRING ON THE DOUBLED DIES!

[murphy]

Speaking of die clashes, I have found obverse under the ear and reverse die clashes in I think bays 4 and 9 for 2006P. Also found them last fall too. So maybe there's evidence to support your statement that die clashes breaks dies.

You mentioned something Coop about 2005 cents without complete steps. The last two boxes I bought early last fall 90% of them were completely Full Steps. I mean they are the prettiest steps you ever saw! One of those boxes is where I found an ms68 business strike and sold it for almost $300. I still have a box and a half left. Those full steps do wonders at PCGS!

[coop]

The fuller steps are as necessary as having TP on your holder in the John.