How to tell a strong strike??

08HALA20

Are there any specific ways to tell if a coin has a strong strike or is it different with each coin.

The horn on the Buffalo nickel reverse.
"Pass and stow" on the Frankies.

Is the edge strike a good tell.

Is all of the side of a coin struck at once or is the date and text separate.

Any comments thankfully accepted.

Rookie Joe

It seems I know less today than 1 year ago.

nwcs

It's different with each coin. Best way to tell is to look at a lot of coins and get a feel for it. Also reading books specializing in a series will help by telling you which date/mints are known for strong or weak strikes and what to look for in that series.

Barberman55

You really have to know the striking characteristics for a particular series, and then break it down even further, to knowing the striking characteristics for specific dates (by mintmarks) within that series. There's alot to know, and learn, good luck!

cladking

It varies from series to series, date to date, and coin to coin.

With the silver and clad Washington's one of the last things to strike up is the periphery
lettering. The tops of the letters should rise well above the surface and be slightly rounded
on a 100% strike. Many coins will have nearly flat letters or they won't be fully struck and
be flat at the top. Morgans usually lack some star detail. Roosies will usually have the I in
IN (...igwt) flat. Jefferson's will lack either design detail or will have a poor strike which
shows up on the portrait, steps, and edge lettering. Look at a bunch of coins and you'll
find that there will be variation from date to date even where there is relative uniformity
within a series.

When the planchets are struck there is extra metal near the edges caused by the process used
to make them. This metal is used to help fill the rims and for most series the dies will push most
of the metal outward from the center and some inward from the thick edges. It is near the rim
which is the last of the design to form when they are struck so deficiencies will often be in this area.

08HALA20

As always the input is super.

Thanks cladking for the specific details.

I always want to learn the fast way but coin knowledge is not speedy takes a lot of work and time.

It is so good to have knowledgable mentors here.

If it wasn't for this place I would know nothing about coins.

Rookie Joe

Thanks again, look forward to others response.

SFDukie

Hi Joe,
Just because you specifically mentioned Frankies,
http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=26&threadid=223068&highlight_key=y&keyword1=franklin instructional series
by FC57coins- these are fantastic, and discuss what years and mints are well struck, and what to look for...
Don

08HALA20

Thnaks for the link, I read many of those, super info and a real asset to the forum.

Joe

tjkillian

Compare and contrast against proofs. Modern proofs (post 1857) are very well struck and when you compare them against the business strikes, you will see a great deal of difference, especially if the coin is not well-struck. The stars are one place to look for in modern coins, but in early ones (pre-1837) you can have well struck edges but poorly struck centers, and vice versa.

Tom

techeff

Modern proofs (post 1857)

Shamika

<< <i>The horn on the Buffalo nickel reverse. >>


Not necessarily true. In fact, when it comes to mint state Buffalos, I really never bother looking at the horn.

I typically look at the knotted ribbon on the Indian's braid, the outer most feather, the word LIBERTY, the hair running across the Buffalo's shoulder, and to a lesser degree the Buffalo's tail.

The problem with this particular series is that the frequent use of over-used and eroded dies results in the horn detail being completely missing from the die itself. When this happens, no amount of pressure will reveal these details.

mgoodm3

Common places to look on an indian cent are on the obv: The diamonds on the ribbon, lower curls of hair nearby. The top of the 2nd feather.

08HALA20

super responses,

I will print much of these responses and also Frank's frankies threads.

Kudos

Joe