weak strike? what causes this wear on coins?

Zulan

I sometimes see this type of wear pattern on coins, and it seems odd. Why would one point of the coin be so worn (the wear is similar on the reverse, one portion is heavily worn). Is this a strike issue?

It seems that if one part was worn flat, the rest of the coin would be more worn if it was normal pocket wear.



Just curious,

Zulan

Shamika

The monster die crack coupled with the incomplete strike would suggest the die is not hitting the planchets at the proper angle.

Russ

That's a pretty cool coin. Too bad about the corrosion, though.

Russ, NCNE

Conder101

1798 S-166 late die stage. The die were mounted in the press out of alignment. The faces were not parallel. They were closer together at 7:00 than at 1:00. The increased pressure at 7:00 was what caused the immediate failure of the reverse die. The area at 1:00, being further apart does not strike up well. Also that area is opposite Liberty's breasts which tend to absorb a lot of metal. Since the metal flows more easily into the bust there is less metal for filling in the lettering. That's why it is weak in that area.

cladking

It's very unusual for coins to wear in odd ways. There are a variety of things which
can cause it, but generally all wear is from circulation and affects the coin evenly on
both sides from the high points down.

Unusual wear is typically caused by a coin getting caught up in equipment or put to
a use other than as a coin. A bar out west used to have silver dollars embedded in
their floor face up. This exposed them to excessive wear from foot traffic and the coins
would be replaced when detail began getting lost. Coins can get caught in clothes
dryers or in the dashboard of a car and get most unusual wear. Some coins are carried
as pocket pieces and might experience one or two of the factors which cause wear so
that they wear down nearly as fast from the low points or they wear almost exclusively
from the high points.

There will be some normal variation in the way coins wear from differences in the hard-
ness to the height of the rim, but these are usually not apparent unless compared to
other coins of the same type.

dorkkarl

your coin is in a very late die-state. the die failed not long after your coin was minted. The poor condition of the die is what resulted in the uneven strike of your coin.

that said, i like the coin very much. congrats!

K S

errormaven

A vertical misalignment (tilted die error) is a distinct possibility. Such errors occur on rare occasions even in modern coins. This error type was discussed in the journal Errorscope in the Jan/Feb 2003 and Sept/Oct 2003.

Weakness or absence of the design at one pole, and a strongly struck design at the opposite pole, are two diagnostics of this error. The wide die crack (it may well be an asymmetrical split die) at the strongly struck pole would be consistent with the unevenly applied force that accompanies such a misalignment.




<< <i>1798 S-166 late die stage. The die were mounted in the press out of alignment. The faces were not parallel. They were closer together at 7:00 than at 1:00. The increased pressure at 7:00 was what caused the immediate failure of the reverse die. The area at 1:00, being further apart does not strike up well. Also that area is opposite Liberty's breasts which tend to absorb a lot of metal. Since the metal flows more easily into the bust there is less metal for filling in the lettering. That's why it is weak in that area. >>