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Why are Phily minted coins generally poor quality.
White_Beard_TN
Posts: 103 ✭✭
I love when I get a roll of Philadelphia mint coins because i'm pretty much guaranteed to find some errors.
But I was wondering why their coins are always lower in quality than the Denver mint. Dimes seem to be the wort. I can find cuds and chips all day.
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Volume?
I would think so
Young Numismatist/collector
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Great illustration, but what the heck is a "die chip cud"?
A cud is usually associated with a die break at the rim (although a few people disagree on the definition).
Philly cranks them out by the billions every year so quality is a little spotty at times.
could you help me with the definition? is a cud formed when a piece of the die chips away and extra metal is pushed into it making a blob of sorts on the coin? or is a cud simply an extra piece of metal left on the die that gets pressed onto the surface of the coin? I get the die crack. it's actually a crack in the die and extra metal seeps into it making a raised line on the coin.
Quality of general circulation US coins has been poor since the mid to late 70s. Compare an BU 1970 quarter to a recent one.
i found a good definition on this site:
http://www.error-ref.com/error_and_variety_check_list/
what i am seeing are die chips.
you are right, i have found quarters from the 70's that look better than some less than 10 years old.
Sounds like you have a definition for chips and cuds already...
In regard to "extra metal" that gets struck into the coin, that is a struck-through, and can be made of anything (metal, cloth, thread, hair, grease, etc.). Also, a struck through will be even with the surface of the coin - not raised above it. The foreign object will be struck into the coin and either falls out or stays behind, but in any case the surface of the coin is not raised because of it.
It depends on what you collect. Philadelphia minted Standing Liberty Quarters are stuck far better than those which were minted in San Francisco and Denver.
Ditto re Philadelphia minted Barber Halves and Morgan Dollars compared to those minted in New Orleans.
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If you think modern Philly Mint coins are bad, look at SF coins from the 20's-50's.
Collector, occasional seller
It varies from Mint to Mint, and from
decade to decade (or year to year)
for PCGS. A 49+-Year PNG Member...A full numismatist since 1972, retired in 2022
I just wish the Mint would stop throwing the coins out in the parking lot to make all those numerous errors and varieties.
People retire and machines get tired then the next round of new people and new machines.
The local car wash receptacle doesn't care if the quarters are ms69 or au50. Other than counterfeiting or collecting I can't think of a single reason why commerce needs high grade coins.
MY COINS FOR SALE AT https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/collectors-showcase/other/bajjerfans-coins-sale/3876
Truth. The purpose of the manufacture of circulation quality coins is so they circulate as money in commerce. The coins are appropriate for the purpose. If the mint spent 10x as much making sure every circulation quality coin was perfect, you would all be harping on how much money the mint was wasting.
ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
Your link provides a good definition of a cud...die chips are not cuds. That being said, you have a good eye for detail and certainly pick up the smallest items on your coins. Cheers, RickO
If you go back to the early 1960s, the Denver Mint coins were poorly made, much worse than the Philadelphia pieces.
I had a chance to go through two bank sealed rolls of 1962-D half dollars. I thought that out of 40 coins I'd find at least one or two MS-64 graded pieces that would be worth a premium. I didn't find any, It was not because the coins were marked up. The problem was they were very poorly made. In other words they were struck in MS-62 or lower. The luster was there, but the details were weak.
In different eras, Philly made the best coins.
In the Lincoln wheaties era Philadelphia cents were heads and shoulders above the branch mints. The 1920's especially.
Lance.