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Privy Mark Technical Question

RichRRichR Posts: 3,864 ✭✭✭✭✭

Question for the gallery...is the privy mark added to the actual die...or is it counterstamped separately?

I only ask because I was surprised that the mirror field seems to be slightly distorted around the privy mark, which I wouldn't have expected if it was engraved into the die itself.

Comments

  • ɹoʇɔǝlloɔɹoʇɔǝlloɔ Posts: 1,436 ✭✭✭✭✭

    got no answer for you but just here to say how much I like that warbly surface field around the v75 privy

  • ECHOESECHOES Posts: 2,974 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Dollar2007 said:
    I’d have to think it is in the die. If it was counterstamped separately they’d probably all be a little different locations on the coin.

    And, if counterstamped, distortion on reverse?

    ~HABE FIDUCIAM IN DOMINO III V VI / III XVI~
    POST NUBILA PHOEBUS / AFTER CLOUDS, SUN
    Love for Music / Collector of Dreck
  • Dollar2007Dollar2007 Posts: 759 ✭✭✭

    @ECHOES said:

    @Dollar2007 said:
    I’d have to think it is in the die. If it was counterstamped separately they’d probably all be a little different locations on the coin.

    And, if counterstamped, distortion on reverse?

    Ahh yes I’m sure. Especially at the pressures needed to get it so detailed.

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,356 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 11, 2020 11:44AM

    @ECHOES said:

    @Dollar2007 said:
    I’d have to think it is in the die. If it was counterstamped separately they’d probably all be a little different locations on the coin.

    And, if counterstamped, distortion on reverse?

    Not if it were stamped while the coin was laying in the die.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • Dollar2007Dollar2007 Posts: 759 ✭✭✭

    @PerryHall said:

    @ECHOES said:

    @Dollar2007 said:
    I’d have to think it is in the die. If it was counterstamped separately they’d probably all be a little different locations on the coin.

    And, if counterstamped, distortion on reverse?

    Not if it were stamped while the coin was laying in the die.

    You think that would cause some marks or doubling on the back if it moved?

  • JBKJBK Posts: 15,803 ✭✭✭✭✭

    GREAT QUESTION!

    I was wondering about this myself after reading on the mint's site yesterday that the coins are "stamped" with the privy mark.

    I am certain it is within the die, but then the question is, at what point was it added?

    Since it is incuse, it could not have been stamped into either the master or working dies. My guess is that it was stamped into a working hub. That would also explain the slight distortion surrounding the mark.

  • ECHOESECHOES Posts: 2,974 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @PerryHall said:

    @ECHOES said:

    @Dollar2007 said:
    I’d have to think it is in the die. If it was counterstamped separately they’d probably all be a little different locations on the coin.

    And, if counterstamped, distortion on reverse?

    Not if it were stamped while the coin was laying in the die.

    Agreed, but labor intensive.
    The 'V75' is incuse, correct?
    Meaning it is in relief on the die itself, this in my understanding would explain the distortion
    around the V75.
    Just thinking out loud...

    ~HABE FIDUCIAM IN DOMINO III V VI / III XVI~
    POST NUBILA PHOEBUS / AFTER CLOUDS, SUN
    Love for Music / Collector of Dreck
  • NumisOxideNumisOxide Posts: 10,997 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Curious about this also

  • SmudgeSmudge Posts: 9,592 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 11, 2020 1:07PM

    @ECHOES said:

    @PerryHall said:

    @ECHOES said:

    @Dollar2007 said:
    I’d have to think it is in the die. If it was counterstamped separately they’d probably all be a little different locations on the coin.

    And, if counterstamped, distortion on reverse?

    Not if it were stamped while the coin was laying in the die.

    Agreed, but labor intensive.
    The 'V75' is incuse, correct?
    Meaning it is in relief on the die itself, this in my understanding would explain the distortion
    around the V75.
    Just thinking out loud...

    That would be like the 48 CAL QE. 1945 times maybe, but 75000 is unlikely. Edit, stamped while laying in the die that is.

  • JBKJBK Posts: 15,803 ✭✭✭✭✭

    If they were done by hand they would be placed all over the coins, partially struck, etc.

  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,444 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Please don't hate me for my pun, but I'm not privy to this. :joy:

  • GoldminersGoldminers Posts: 4,202 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 11, 2020 1:25PM

    Don't get the privy and woodshed mixed up ;)

    Some searches reported that:

    The privy mark, which is part of the master die for the coins, reads “V75” within an outline of the rainbow pool of the National World War II Memorial in Washington, DC and denotes the 75th anniversary of the allied victory in World War II.

  • RichRRichR Posts: 3,864 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November 11, 2020 3:36PM

    [The privy mark, which is part of the master die for the coins...]

    Makes sense...but odd that the metal in the highly reflective field is visibly flowing around it.

    That's a bit of an odd phenomena for an integral design element...especially a "sunken" design element.

  • JBKJBK Posts: 15,803 ✭✭✭✭✭

    When the mark was stamped into the hub the metal around it would have been slightly displaced.

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I understood, from reading the description(s), that it was part of the master die...so any distortions would have been incurred there.... Now, if the distortions vary from coin to coin (beyond die wear), then something else is at play. Perhaps @FredWeinberg has some information. Cheers, RickO

  • messydeskmessydesk Posts: 20,057 ✭✭✭✭✭

    If this is a recessed mark, it would need to be added to a positive image of the coin (i.e., a hub). It would make the most sense to add it to a finished working hub, which would distort the field a little, and then make as many working dies as you needed. Frosting the privy mark would have been done either when applying the 60 grit laser cameo to the rest of the coin or by the mark being frosted when applied to the hub. Polishing the dies before use would have wiped out that cameo, however, so I will assume it was cameoed with the rest of the design.

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