Is it normal on a mercury to have a rotated reverse

BIGDAVE

i estimate 28 Degrees cw

nwcs

+/- 30 is within mint tolerances. A little unusual but too.

BIGDAVE

I must have read wrong i thought +/- 15 is within mint tolerances

Fairlaneman

Actually a Mercury Dime never has a rotated reverse. The reason being because the reverse die is the hammer die. What is rotated is the obverse. Yes rotation is quite common through the whole series.

Ken

carl

I presently have seven sets of Mercury Dimes and numerous loose duplicates. About 50% of them have the reverse on an angle to the obverse. The angle ranges from a few degrees to 90%. Some friends have shown me ones that were even more than 90%. I've checked at coin shows and found the same range of angles on the same amount of coins.

errormaven

<< <i>Actually a Mercury Dime never has a rotated reverse. The reason being because the reverse die is the hammer die. What is rotated is the obverse. Yes rotation is quite common through the whole series.

Ken >>



Not so. It is impossible to determine which die rotated. Rotation is possible in both the hammer die and the anvil die. The few "one-sided" double strikes I have that show a rotation between the first and second strike demonstrate that it was the hammer die that rotated.

A more accurate term for this error is "rotated die error", since you cannot specify which die actually did the rotating.

Rotated die errors can arise from at least three causes:

1. Improper installation
2. Improper grinding of guide marks, leading to improper installation.
3. Spontaneous rotation of a die during a press run.

-- Mike Diamond

fcloud

I think more are rotated than not! Those things are all over the map.

Fairlaneman

<< <i>

<< <i>Actually a Mercury Dime never has a rotated reverse. The reason being because the reverse die is the hammer die. What is rotated is the obverse. Yes rotation is quite common through the whole series.

Ken >>



Not so. It is impossible to determine which die rotated. Rotation is possible in both the hammer die and the anvil die. The few "one-sided" double strikes I have that show a rotation between the first and second strike demonstrate that it was the hammer die that rotated.

A more accurate term for this error is "rotated die error", since you cannot specify which die actually did the rotating.

Rotated die errors can arise from at least three causes:

1. Improper installation
2. Improper grinding of guide marks, leading to improper installation.
3. Spontaneous rotation of a die during a press run.

-- Mike Diamond >>



Opps....I used the never word. Generally speaking is it not true that the hammer die usually stays in place ? If this is not true much information that has been published is false.

Ken

errormaven

<< <i>

Opps....I used the never word. Generally speaking is it not true that the hammer die usually stays in place ? If this is not true much information that has been published is false.

Ken >>



It is emphatically NOT the case that the hammer die is less likely to rotate than the anvil die. This was a false assumption created without consideration of the physical evidence. Folks reasoned that the hammer die would fall out if it became loose because of gravity. However, cent, nickel, and dime dies have an expanded base that would prevent them from falling out, and some dies belonging to higher denominations have a flared shaft that would also prevent them from falling out.

Examination of available physical evidence in the form of one-sided multi-strikes and other errors that sometimes co-occur with a rotated die (e.g., major horizontal misalignments), always indicate that it is the hammer die that spontaneously rotates. I have never seen any error that clearly documents rotation of the anvil die. However, the available sample is too limited to exclude this possibility.

There is plenty of false information disseminated in the hobby literature.

RotatedRainbows

<< <i>I must have read wrong i thought +/- 15 is within mint tolerances >>



You are correct the mint tolerance is 15° cw or ccw and small rotations are common. 90° or more is much tougher to come by and will command a premium.