Rusted die or pitted/corroded surface on coppers.

crispy

I perused the current thread that had the unsuccessful old copper submissions. I have seen a quite a few of these old coppers with their share of corrosion and environmental damage. It seems like a whole lot of them have their problems. Perhaps that's why we don't see many in TPG slabs. But I digress.

What I'm curious about is how to tell the difference between a pitted surface and a "rusted die". The picture of Breen's #1728 isn't real clear. Does anyone have any visual comparisons that they could post. I'm curious as I'm starting to explore and study the fascinating world of early coppers.

Thanks.

Crispy

Shamika

From an image, it's tough to tell the difference between rusted dies and pitted coin surfaces. However, in-hand you'll see that rusted dies leave small protrusions on the coin's surfaces whereas corroded coins will show as pits on the surfaces.

seateddime

rust die the "pitting" come up off the coin, otherwise it is in the coin

crispy

That makes perfect sense. All the more reason to purchase these coins in person as that kind of effect probably wouldn't be all that apparent in an image unless it is shot from more than one angle or light source.

Thanks for the responses.

JRocco

Not sure if you can tell with this pic, but this is what the surface would look like from rusted dies. Notice the raised areas around the birds talons in this pic?

crispy

I sure can see that. Was it noted somewhere that at some point this half dollar's die had rust (as in Breen or some other literary account) or was it more-or-less a common occurence in certain mints? I would imagine it would occur if a die sat unused for a while and then was remarried with a latter date die. When I say that I mean was there a specific mint or mints that improperly stored or improperly treated dies during a certain era?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm curious about this. It is very apparent on JRocco's image.

Great picture JRocco. Thank you for posting it.

Writersblock

In the humid salty air of Philadelphia the dies not in use would start rusting fairly quickly unless they were protected. Typically this was done by coating the face of the die in either lard or wax. Todays die steel alloys are more resistant to corrosion.

seemyauction

WOW what a great picture, JRocco



AL