question about shield nickel design

1907Quarter

was the design change from rays to no rays made because of striking problems? What were these problems exactly?

ddink

iirc when the high points of the obverse are in the same area as the high points of the reverse, there can be a problem with not having enough metal to flow and fill out the entire design. Not sure if that's what happened with the rays though.

291fifth

Die life on the early Shield Nickels was a major problem for the mint. At first the dies were only lasting for about 15,000 strikes. The changes were made in an attempt to increase die life. Over the life of the series die life did increase but was never very high. When the Liberty Nickel was introduced the diameter was increased slightly. This apparently helped increase die life considerably.