My Introduction and Posted Pictures

[1000words]

Greetings everyone! My name is Bob and I am new to this forum and have not yet paid for a membership. I started my first coin collection as a school project back in the late 50s and restarted about a year ago. I am posting the obverse of six different 50C Kennedy's.The 1964 is the benchmark to compare all the other five that show the same obvious error. No arrows or circles needed, just look at Kennedy's cheek. It might have already been attributed but I have not searched beyond Variety Vista.

[MintErrors]

Welcome aboard.
This forum has a few Kennedy collectors and they should be able to answer most of your coin questions.

I personally do not see any photos here.

[1000words]

I have checked all six photos. They are all under 250KB each. The 1969 coin is my benchmark to compare with the other five. Please pay attention to Kennedy's face, specifically his cheek and not the length of the part in his hair. Again my apologies for any confusion I have caused. I am not forum savvy . Once again, not understanding the thumbnail choice I did pick large and this time I made it without a blemish. 1998P 50C CHEECK CREASED.jpg 1998P 50C CHEEK CREASED.jpg 1999P 50C CHEEK CREASED.jpg 1969D 50C NORMAL MINT.jpg 1996P 50C CHEEK CREASED.jpg 1997P 50C CHEEK CREASED.jpg

[Zimmy]

What am I looking for n the cheek? I see bag marks.

[1000words]

Don't bag marks usually result in sharp often well defined impressions like scratches, reed mark transfers or scrapes?
The cheek "distortions" seem to be smooth valleys. Also five different coins (some minted in different years) have the same distortion to exactly the same location - Kennedy's cheek. Wouldn't the chances of that happening as a result of bag marks cause some doubt?

[1000words]

Here are only two examples of bag marks. To the best of my knowledge, and my knowledge is not always the best, bag marks usually have defined edge/s with the exception of surface scrapes. The Kennedy cheek distortions seem to be smooth flowing valleys without edges. 2022p 25c 003.jpg 2022p 25c 015J.jpg

[MintErrors]

Don't bag marks usually result in sharp often well defined impressions like scratches, reed mark transfers or scrapes?
The cheek "distortions" seem to be smooth valleys. Also five different coins (some minted in different years) have the same distortion to exactly the same location - Kennedy's cheek. Wouldn't the chances of that happening as a result of bag marks cause some doubt?

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OK, I can see photos now. The areas on the cheek you are describing, they look raised up on the coin....are they ?

If they are, they could be die chips, die scrapes or other minor issues. If you are interested, you can read about some of them here ook for die gouges, or die scrapes. They are on:
https://www.error-ref.com/index-of-entries/

I know it can be difficult to take photos with reduced glare. I at time fight with my setup, but eventually reduce glare. A sheer cloth might do the trick. If it's near lighting, just take it away from heat to avoid a fire situation.

[1000words]

Thank you for considering the photos. To my naked eye the cheeks on all but one of the coins, seems to resemble smooth rolling hills with a smooth edged valley in between. The hills seem to be slightly raised and the valleys slightly depressed. I will take new photos to be sure. Your suggestion about reflection is well taken along with the references. Here is a different photo I needed to question a lamination problem some time ago. I will try something like this with the Kennedy's. 1984D 10C CLAD PEEL.jpg

[MintErrors]

Please note that the working dies are pieces of steel with the images of the coin reversed and sunk into these working dies. The areas that are the highest on the coin are the deepest on the working dies. This can kind of help identify and at times, eliminate some possible issues.

The area south of the eye down to the jaw line looks a little raised, more than usual. If this was the result of a working die being made with just a little more pressure than other working dies for the year, may cause those deeper areas of the die to appear to be raised up slightly more than normal. There are literally hundreds to thousands of potential combinations of what actually happened here. I personally cannot pinpoint what this is. I collect 1964 Kennedys' and personally if this was offered to me in say gem BU, I would pass, because, I personally would consider it too minor.

One other thing, if the magnification is over 10x power, many attributors will consider the issue "minor" in nature.

One thing of error-ref is the article on:
https://www.error-ref.com/die-dent/

[1000words]

I have never noticed these cheek depressions on older Kennedy's 64 and up to somewhat later years. They are synonymous with later mints occurring with changes to the shape of the head and the extended length of the part in his hair . This can be seen without magnification. I was searching a box of Kennedy's quickly and without magnification when I spotted them. I will try other photos and post them.

[1000words]

1997P 50C 00BV.jpg 1964 50C OBV~2.jpg 1997P 50C OBV 2M~2.jpg ANGLED.jpg I joined this forum as a result of searching Variety Vista to find attribution for the cheek distortions. Unable to find any listed I did note VV's direction to submit pictures here before sending the actual coin to VV for his examination (fee charged). My purpose, if called for, was to attribute what I was looking at to contribute to the hobby. I also would learn how these distortions were possibly caused. I know some errors listed on VVs web site required higher magnification to see them. It is impossible for me to view an entire coin at 10X, that usually results in smaller sections of the coin but I have attempted to photograph a limited number of coins trying to avoid reflection distortion. The angle and intensity of the light can be useful in revealing different features. I have found some URLs you have listed not to function but I thank you for them, especially those I can read.
Here a new photos that might be more revealing. The 1964 is what I think to be the norm.

[1000words]

I have recently found out that the facial distortions on these Kennedys are normal, caused by distressed dies. Thanks for all of your help!