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As for the term "variant" that is used in print in the silver strike hobby, I can tell you that a simlar term commonly used in the coin collecting hobby is "die variety" ... or "die state". Sometimes these chips and cracks don't appear on the die until well into the striking process. That is, a quantity of strikes could be produced before the die broke, or cracked, or became otherwise damaged. This could occur early during the striking process or later. If it happend later, there would be fewer examples known. This is a specialty field that I don't believe the majority of collectors concern themselves with.
I used to collect bust half-collars (1807-1836) by die variety ... a very specialized field. Die breaks, die cracks, die gouges, die defects, rusty dies, identified which particular die struck which particular coin. There could be a dozen dies that struck a particular year coin. As dies became worn, or developed faults through fatigue or improper pressure applied by the mint operator, it was replaced with another die that would have its own distinctive marking that would distinquish it from the previous die used to strike the same coin.
I will follow-up with another post that will show a recent example found of a 2008 'spiked-head' Roosevelt dime that will explain it clearer.
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