1717 1/2d no stops

coinkat

Okay British copper experts...

Is the 1717 no stops obverse a result of die wear? Any thoughts?

wybrit

Apparently no one thinks here, Coinkat.

The subject is out of my time period of expertise. Maybe aethelred can weigh in.

Conder101

Dies were created by hand from punches back then. Most likely the stops were just forgotten. You will find a lot of punching errors from that era.

Lloyd

Dies get clagged up with muck over a period of time. Hence with the more prolific issues from Charles II to George III you find strong stops, weak stops, almost invisible stops and no stops.

EDIT TO ADD: if you notice with a no stops obverse, the reverse will usually be strongly struck and the obverse soft. And of course vice versa.

Also this does not rule out the complete miss by the engravers as mentioned above.

coinkat

Thanks for the responses... I would have thought die fatigue/wear.