I got a cracked skull today....

[Wyatt Earp]

If there are any American Silver Eagle collectors here, you know what I mean. The reverse proof coin, a first ever for the Philadelphia mint....is an odd concept, so I thought I'd like to have one for my ASE set....even though I don't collect proofs....so....I decided to buy a 20th anniversary set, via ebay, and just shopped the cheapest price I could get the set for....199 bucks.

Imagine my surprise when I opened up the set, and aware of the error's existance...put the loupe on the RP...and there it was....a die crack running along liberty's hairline. Not only that....but there are also 3 pieces of flash adhered to the coin that were apparently expelled from the die between the second and third strikes.

Before anybody suggests that there is no interest in, or premium paid for die cracks.....one just sold on eBay for 999 dollars. I'd call that a premium.

I don't have the capability to take good close up pictures...but I found this one doing a dogpile search. Mine was minted on the same set of dies that produced this specimen.

Wyatt

[PAPPY]

WTG WYATT

[Wyatt Earp]

Quality control is supposed to be tight on proofs.....apparently a little more lax than they'd like people to think. There are 3 seperate varieties of the "cracked skull"...all on the reverse proofs. There were 250K sets minted, and they're sold out at the mint.

Wyatt

[Wyatt Earp]

Thanks Boobie. It really was an unexpected bonus........Been workin' my tailfeathers off.....trying to get caught up. I've missed the beepin'....but springtime's comin' soon enough, and I'll be getting out some.

Wyatt