VAMWorld 2.0

A pic of my 79P with complete lower curl separation next to the designers initial 'M'.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rt9qc7rsap5pw ... P.jpg?dl=0

Is this just an overpolished old die?

It's an overpolished die. Could be a brand new die that was just polished too much before being used.

Thanks very much. It is interesting in that the die does not look old otherwise so your explanation makes sense for sure.

The final step in die manufacture was a dip in acid to remove "fire scale" from final hardening and tempering. Working dies were not normally polished before first use unless there was a lingering defect.