2011P Reverse die crack - overworked die?

[Guest]

I have just found my first reverse die crack for 2011. Does this mean that the die has been overworked or that it had a very short run. My guess is that this die might have had quite a lengthy run. I do not have production figures for 2011. I would like to know if someone with that information would be kind enough to provide us with some answers as well as how that affect doubled dies
for 2011P................................. Lucien

[hasfam]

Lucien,
Die cracks are a common occurence during the life of a working die. A die having one or more die cracks doesn't mean the die is finished. Typically the Mint will continue to use the die until it literally falls apart.
There are hundreds of working dies in use during the year and although the total production output of a given denomination is readily available from the Mint's web site, there is no way of knowing how many coins a die will strike in it's life time. the number is probably a million or more.
A die crack would not have an effect on a doubled die. A die is doubled during the hubbing process before the die goes to work striking coins. A die crack develops after a period of usage and as the die weakens in different places it wll begin to crack. A die crack is sometimes used as a marker to identify a particular die when attributing a variety. I hope I was able to answer some of your questions.

[copperlover]

Thanks for your response Rock, I learned a little more Today, I was still wondering how often die cracks have showed up for 2011 since the start of this year.

Lucien

[mustbebob]

I have seen die cracks on just about every 2011 coin I have seen. The primary weak area for the design is the upper left portion of the shield's outline. The die crack you show is not that common from what I have seen, but as Rock pointed out, it is hard to know how many more coins were struck with the die cracking like that.