This blank Presidential Dollar planchet presents an interesting question. What would have happened had this planchet been struck? If you look closely, you can see that there is a good sized crack in the clad layer on this planchet. Due to the force of striking, the clad layer might have been completely destroyed, or it might have "bonded" to the core. Among the experts I queried about this, the consensus was that the layer would crack more, and probably come off completely, but a couple of experts thought that maybe the clad layer would bond.
I find it fascinating that when it comes right down it, we really just don't know! I know this sounds funny, but most of the science behind evaluating minting errors through the years had to be done based on speculation, because the U.S. Mint itself wasn't very forthcoming about its problems. Hopefully the collector community and the Mint can build a better rapport in the future, so that the lines of communication are more open, and we can deal in facts rather than speculation when it comes to understanding minting errors.
I find it fascinating that when it comes right down it, we really just don't know! I know this sounds funny, but most of the science behind evaluating minting errors through the years had to be done based on speculation, because the U.S. Mint itself wasn't very forthcoming about its problems. Hopefully the collector community and the Mint can build a better rapport in the future, so that the lines of communication are more open, and we can deal in facts rather than speculation when it comes to understanding minting errors.