Error classification?

[Ronald Ozimek]

I'm having luck looking through 2 rolls of 1938 D Buffalo nickels. This uncirculated coin has a defect in the center of the buffalo. Do you think this would be considered a strike through? It does not look like the grease strike throughs I have seen but perhaps something else got between the coin and die?

[sumdunce]

Is the obverse flattened in the area opposite of the anomaly? Sometimes pieces of metal get into the presses and can be imprinted into a coin. Also, I had a coin that still had amalgam pieces consisting of hardened grease, nickle, and copper still pressed into the coin, while many places on that coin had small indentations where some amalgam pieces had also fallen out over the years.

[Ronald Ozimek]

Thanks for the suggestion. I double checked the front and and took this photo. I don't see anything in what should be the upper braid/cheek area. Would you label it as a strikethrough?

[Kloccwork419]

Can you get a clearer closer pic of the reverse? I think it could be a stain. I can see a face in it. Lol. Like the scream mask

[sumdunce]

If the obverse is not flattened or distorted then nothing was pressed into the coin after it left the mint. If there is a void on the reverse, then it needs to be checked for environmental damage (acid etched), tooling (someone carved out the void), defective planchet (piece fell off after strike) and struck through error. Checking the mass of the coin could let you now if some of the coin was removed after strike (acid/tooled). If after evaluation you do believe you found an error then you may wish to send it off to an expert or TPG to get it authenticated. I am not an error expert. I am just relaying lessons learned from a lifetime of mistakes (some costly...).

[Ronald Ozimek]

Thanks guys and I appreciate the humor I have attached a close up, and now that you mention it can totally see the scream mask!. To be clear this coin roll has been in either my fathers basement or mine for the last 50 years so the artwork is sadly a coincidence. The coin weighs out at 5G & the abnormality looks to be recessed from the surface when I look at the coin. I will label it as a strike through & put it in my book to let future generations ponder the mystery. I'm happy to see that this uncirculated coin is worth a bit more than face value (even without the artwork).