Does "Strong strike" necessarily mean fully detailed?

dan1ecu

Greetings, All -

Can there be coins that are strongly struck in the sense that there was enough pressure used in the striking process, but are not considered "full strikes" because the dies are old, and are missing some detail?

An example would be Franklin Halves. You can have a very strongly struck piece that's missing some detail on the bell lines because of the condition of the die used to make it, correct? Would you consider such a coin "strongly struck," but not "fully struck?"

How would all of this influence the grade of a coin?

Dan

nwcs

I'd say it's possible. Consider misaligned dies or where part of the coin is very strongly struck and the rest weak. I know some mercs are like that with strong torch but weak periphery. And the things you mentioned can also be a factor.

Merc

Nope, to me a strong strike means a fully detailed coin.

JxnBoy

Look at high grade SLQ's. Not all of them have full heads, in fact, small fractional percentages are actually full head coins.

There are hundreds, if not thousands (too lazy to check the pops), high grade gems, sixes, sevens, that are struck without a full head.

Is that fully struck? I think not. Strongly struck? Well, if the shield has all the rivets, that's a pretty strong strike. Most times you're missing the third and fourth rivets (starting at the bottom, working your way clockwise), or they're struck very weakly.

Interesting question.

Shamika

"Can there be coins that are strongly struck in the sense that there was enough pressure used in the striking process, but are not considered "full strikes" because the dies are old, and are missing some detail?"

Happens all the time with Buffalo nickels.

MFH

I agree with JxnBoy,

I have looked at more SLQ's over the years to know that this series has its fair share of "strong strikes" and lack the designation of FH. If all the shield rivots are there, then you can assume that most of the inner verticals are there too. Finding a truly strong strike would be to have the horizonals as well. The term ultimate full head would have, not just a FH, but also all the rivots, verticals and horizontals.

The same reasoning could be applied to the Mercurys, Franklins, etc ( FB / FBL ).

cladking

To me a full strike is nearly 100% of the design detail is present. While strong
strike simply means that most of the design on the die is there. In many cases
like the '68-D nickel most of the dies never had step detail but these can be
strong strikes none the less. Strong strike does imply that the die is fairly new
but not that it was a good die, and it implies there was a good strike.

Full strike means the entire design was on new dies and that it was set up so
that the nearly entire design was transferred to the coin.

Dog97

Consideration is not given to what the press tonnage is set at. If it shows the details it's a strong strike and if it's missing details it's a weak strike. If it's missing details from worn dies most collectors call it weak strike but the technical term would be late die state and late states produce mushy details, rough fields with flow lines and substandard luster. It hurts the grade because a generally speaking a coin needs to be fully struck to grade 65 or higher.
The designations FBL, FH, FB etc are not precluded by only a weak strike but also by marks & scrapes.

Robgetty

I guess that I had always equated full strike and strong strike, but I like your reasoning on the dies.

Bear

A perfect example of the strong strike versus the fully detailed strike

is found in the Liberty Standing series. In the case of a Full Head, you will find

three distinct levels of full head. The just made version, the strong full head and

the ultimate full head with full rounded leaves, full ear hole, distinction between the

cheek bone and the jaw bone and sharp diferention of the head dress as well as

full detail in the hair. So you see, one can have a full head quarter untill you compare

it to a true ultimate FULL HEAD QUARTER.