1856 sovereign - lamination error?

[Belmont]

 I got this shield sovereign in and I was wondering if any of you know what causes this sort of deformation.

Also if this happened during the mint or after.

Thank you in advance!

[SheepStacker]

My money would be on mount mark. It was probably in a ring or a pendant at some point. 

[Orpster]

8 minutes ago, SheepStacker said:

My money would be on mount mark. It was probably in a ring or a pendant at some point. 

Not so sure, it looks like a layer of gold has been 'peeled' back

@dicker may well have seen something like this before

[SheepStacker]

1 minute ago, Orpster said:

Not so sure, it looks like a layer of gold has been 'peeled' back

@dicker may well have seen something like this before

Maybe the jeweller was a little over zealous with the clamping tool? @Belmont, can you take a picture of the entire coin, obverse+reverse?

[Belmont]

1 hour ago, SheepStacker said:

Maybe the jeweller was a little over zealous with the clamping tool? @Belmont, can you take a picture of the entire coin, obverse+reverse?

[Belmont]

1 hour ago, SheepStacker said:

Maybe the jeweller was a little over zealous with the clamping tool? @Belmont, can you take a picture of the entire coin, obverse+reverse?

Some similar marks at NIA, not that definite though. I don`t see damage or marks anywhere else. Rim looks fine.

[dicker]

3 hours ago, Orpster said:

Not so sure, it looks like a layer of gold has been 'peeled' back

@dicker may well have seen something like this before

I replied privately but for the record, I have seen lamination errors but not like this one.  My money is on post mint damage. 

[paulmerton]

It looks like it has delaminated from the rim and the loose peel has been folded down onto the face of the coin. Over the years it has smoothed and flatted against the face. That process would have happened post-mint as there is no lettering detail visible from the R.

While still in very good condition for what it is, I think it's too old and worn to be sure of whether the lamination originally happened at the minting stage.

For comparison, I have a brass threepence (found at a boot sale!) with a nice unfolded lamination where you can see the lettering through it.