Where did the denticles go??

prooflike

Why did the mint/engravers stop using denticles???

Fairlaneman

Because Mercury Dimes would be Ugly with them.

Ken

earlwbollinger

I'll take a shot at it:
One, coins stopped having gold and silver in them, thus there isn't much of an incentive to file or clip a little off the side.
Two, the engravers got lazy
Three, cheaper to mint, less time engraving dies, less things for quality control to reject

Fairlaneman

Hmmm...I may be wrong but they disappeared in 1916 for the dime, quarter and half. Silver was still present back then.

Ken

earlwbollinger

Your right, I think I need some more caffiene.
Then the engravers just got lazy.

NoGvmnt

I would assume it had to do with die life and metal flow.

Jim

Conder101

After the mint went to the close collar denticals were no longer needed but remained on the coins probably mostly as an ornament and as a tradition. They first started disappearing in 1907 with the eagle and double eagle. This was probably do to some changes in art styles taking place. Design in art was moving more toward smooth lines as is eventually shown in the Art Deco styles and the trend towards "streamlining". Dentilation came to be viewed as "old fashioned". (This trend can also be seen in building design. In 19th century houses and buildings you will often see decaritive dentilation along the roof and eaves. But by about 1913 most of this was gone replaced by smooth clean lines.) From 1907 on each coin as it was redesigned lost its denticals. The one hitch in this trend was the Standing Liberty Quarter which although it lost the denticals, did retain a border design just inside the rim.