1949D Lincoln Cent

[steve44]

The 1949D Lincoln Cent imaged below appears to exhibit a threadlike impression on Lincoln's jacket extending into the field where it terminates in the field to the left of the date as shown (red arrows). Is this an example of a mint error? All thoughts welcome.

[MintErrors]

In my opinion, It could be a struck through fiber, if it is indented into the coin.

If it is raised, it could be a die crack.

A minute chance it could be a lamination issue. Lamination are flakes of coin which come loose after the strike.

[steve44]

Thanks for responding Gary. A threadlike impression is created when a piece of thread or strand of wire finds itself between a die and the flan that it is to strike. It leaves an impression in the die. Any additional coins struck by the same die, will then contain the image of the thread as a raised device.

In my experience, this is well known to silver dollar collectors, and many VAMs are identified by their threadlike impressions. But, in my 80 years, I have not examined a single Lincoln cent that has exhibited this sort of device and thought to ask if others had seen them and thought them common on Lincoln cents. You are correct; It is possible that it is a die crack, however, die cracks generally tend to have a more jagged character in their appearance in my experience, and are of course also very common on silver dollars.

Thanks again for responding. Much appreciated!