1967 P KENNEDY HALF OBV & REV ERRORS

[searching4errors]

I purchased some Kennedy Halves at an estate auction over the weekend and
have been going through them one by one. I came across this 1967 that I noticed something on Kennedy's ear just above the earlobe. I didn't give it much thought at first and then while re-checking it noticed what appears to me like a letter shape, possssibly a P or D, only the center is convex instead of concave, which leads me to believe that it was struck from the reverse side of the coin. Can anyone tell from my pics what this could be. I first thought that maybe it was a die clash and maybe the P from E PURLUBIS had clashed but none of the letters hit the correct spot and may not even be the correct size. There are a couple of tiny marks that sometimes occur during the minting process on either side of the impression which I've seen on coins, but can't remember what they're called. It could possibly be part of the serpent from the reverse, yet it appears too small for that. Anyone got any ideas on what this is?

Also there is a light die crack through parts of "OF AMERICA" which starts underneath the "O" in OF and runs over to the left leg of the "A", then runs through the mid section of the "M" stops then runs from the middle arm of the "E" under the middle of the "R" and over to the "I" in AMERICA on the reverse. I welcome any comments. Hopefully someone has seen this before.
Thanks!

[diamond]

It looks like post-strike damage to me. Probably impact damage from another coin.

[searching4errors]

Thanks Mike, for your reply. How could another coin possibly cause such damage as to have a convex center rather than a concave center as a D or P, for example? It's like the bottom half of a clothing snap where the center sticks up rather than being hollow. There are small triangle indentions at the upper portion of the spot on either side. The shiny spot on the upper left portion of the 1st ear pic is a reflection. That is actually a triangle mark very similar to the two die marks on Kennedy's face only smaller, I think. I wish I could get a better pic and I think you'd agree that it wasn't caused by another coin because of the way the metal was forced flat around all sides of the impression and left a convex (filled) center. At least to me it doesn't seem possible but, I'm certainly no expert.

Are you also saying that the reverse die crack is post damage also? I have thoroughly checked it from every angle and although it is very thin, it is not a scratch or gouge. The line runs underneath the letters effected and there are no scratches on the letters that would connect to these lines.

[diamond]

My opinion concerning the blemish on the ear remains unchanged. I see no reason to think it's anything but post-strike damage. Any die cracks you detect would be unrelated, of course. Die cracks are common and just part of the normal wear-and-tear that affects a die.