Is this die polishing?

[Rondor]

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?

[messydesk]

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

[Rondor]

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

[RogerB]

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.