Grading and Strike: Two Sides of the Same Coin
Dentuck
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From the December 2008 Whitman Review:
Grading and Strike: Two Sides of the Same Coin
By Bill Fivaz
Bill Fivaz is a special consultant to Q. David Bowers’s Grading Coins by Photographs. Here, he comments on an important factor in grading: a coin’s strike.
When dies for any coin are designed, every effort is taken not to have deep parts of the die(s), which create the high portions on a finished coin, directly opposite each other. A classic example of design flaw is the 1921 Peace silver dollar. Struck in high relief, the central portion of both the obverse and reverse dies of this coin were opposite each other. That is why you will virtually never find a fully struck coin of this date. There will always be a weakness in the central portion of Liberty’s hair on the obverse and the leading or outer part of the eagle’s wing on the reverse. When a coin is struck, the central areas of the die(s) are the last to fill, and if they are the deepest parts of the die(s), there is simply not enough metal in the planchet to adequately strike up the full design in those areas. This is also true on the Buffalo nickel. The area surrounding the tie on the braid is the central point on the obverse, and directly opposite this on the reverse is the “line” of raised fur on the bison’s back and the upper portion of the left leg. Thus, on a coin that is not fully struck, a weakness of varying clarity will manifest itself in these areas.
This design flaw, while not as severe as on the 1921 Peace dollar (which prompted a design change in 1922 to a much lower relief), is the reason only an extremely small percentage of the Buffalo series can be found with what may be considered a “full” strike. If I were to guess, I’d say that less than 2% of the entire mintage would be considered Full Details or completely detailed strikes; possibly 15 to 20% would fall into the “sharp” category (where the groove above the tie on the braid is easily visible); about 50% would be “typical,” and the remaining 30% would be “weak” strikes.
Left: Flatly struck stars on the obverse of a 1901 Liberty Head nickel. As
coins with Full Details exist, there is no need to buy one like this. Right: Flat
stars to each side of the head of Miss Liberty on an 1858 Liberty Seated half
dollar. Again, no need to compromise, as other coins with Full Details exist.
More examples of strike characteristics are pictured and discussed in Grading
Coins by Photographs, by Q. David Bowers.
There are some dates that are exceptions to the above, due to fresh hubs and/or dies or a design change. The initial mintages of the 1913 Buffalo nickels are generally better strikes because of the newness of the hubs (a positive) and dies (a negative image). The 1921 Philadelphia and San Francisco Morgan dollar mintages were struck by redesigned dies and are usually either sharp or Full Details. For some reason the Mint reverted to the pre-1921 design after that one year.
It’s also good to keep in mind that the strike factor in the grading formula is an important component in determining the overall desirability of a coin, while it is not considered in arriving at a grade in technical grading. A connoisseur will often consider multiple factors such as luster, contact marks, and sharpness of strike, all of which combine to determine eye appeal.
Bill Fivaz, who has collected coins since 1950, is one of today’s best-known figures in numismatics. He has garnered every major honor the hobby community offers, including election to the American Numismatic Association Hall of Fame, Numismatist of the Year, the Farran Zerbe Award, and more. A familiar instructor at the ANA Summer Seminar and other venues, Bill is also author of many articles and several books, including the award-winning United States Gold Counterfeit Detection Guide and, as co-author, the best-selling Cherrypickers’ Guide to Rare Die Varieties. He is a well-known consultant on matters involving grading, authentication, variety attribution, and other technical aspects of numismatics.
Grading and Strike: Two Sides of the Same Coin
By Bill Fivaz
Bill Fivaz is a special consultant to Q. David Bowers’s Grading Coins by Photographs. Here, he comments on an important factor in grading: a coin’s strike.
When dies for any coin are designed, every effort is taken not to have deep parts of the die(s), which create the high portions on a finished coin, directly opposite each other. A classic example of design flaw is the 1921 Peace silver dollar. Struck in high relief, the central portion of both the obverse and reverse dies of this coin were opposite each other. That is why you will virtually never find a fully struck coin of this date. There will always be a weakness in the central portion of Liberty’s hair on the obverse and the leading or outer part of the eagle’s wing on the reverse. When a coin is struck, the central areas of the die(s) are the last to fill, and if they are the deepest parts of the die(s), there is simply not enough metal in the planchet to adequately strike up the full design in those areas. This is also true on the Buffalo nickel. The area surrounding the tie on the braid is the central point on the obverse, and directly opposite this on the reverse is the “line” of raised fur on the bison’s back and the upper portion of the left leg. Thus, on a coin that is not fully struck, a weakness of varying clarity will manifest itself in these areas.
This design flaw, while not as severe as on the 1921 Peace dollar (which prompted a design change in 1922 to a much lower relief), is the reason only an extremely small percentage of the Buffalo series can be found with what may be considered a “full” strike. If I were to guess, I’d say that less than 2% of the entire mintage would be considered Full Details or completely detailed strikes; possibly 15 to 20% would fall into the “sharp” category (where the groove above the tie on the braid is easily visible); about 50% would be “typical,” and the remaining 30% would be “weak” strikes.
Left: Flatly struck stars on the obverse of a 1901 Liberty Head nickel. As
coins with Full Details exist, there is no need to buy one like this. Right: Flat
stars to each side of the head of Miss Liberty on an 1858 Liberty Seated half
dollar. Again, no need to compromise, as other coins with Full Details exist.
More examples of strike characteristics are pictured and discussed in Grading
Coins by Photographs, by Q. David Bowers.
There are some dates that are exceptions to the above, due to fresh hubs and/or dies or a design change. The initial mintages of the 1913 Buffalo nickels are generally better strikes because of the newness of the hubs (a positive) and dies (a negative image). The 1921 Philadelphia and San Francisco Morgan dollar mintages were struck by redesigned dies and are usually either sharp or Full Details. For some reason the Mint reverted to the pre-1921 design after that one year.
It’s also good to keep in mind that the strike factor in the grading formula is an important component in determining the overall desirability of a coin, while it is not considered in arriving at a grade in technical grading. A connoisseur will often consider multiple factors such as luster, contact marks, and sharpness of strike, all of which combine to determine eye appeal.
Bill Fivaz, who has collected coins since 1950, is one of today’s best-known figures in numismatics. He has garnered every major honor the hobby community offers, including election to the American Numismatic Association Hall of Fame, Numismatist of the Year, the Farran Zerbe Award, and more. A familiar instructor at the ANA Summer Seminar and other venues, Bill is also author of many articles and several books, including the award-winning United States Gold Counterfeit Detection Guide and, as co-author, the best-selling Cherrypickers’ Guide to Rare Die Varieties. He is a well-known consultant on matters involving grading, authentication, variety attribution, and other technical aspects of numismatics.
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Comments
The same can be said of the 1921 P and S Buffalo Nickels-quite obvious if you know where to look.
The dimes and quarters of 1921 also show minor differences of design.
What does he mean by this? I dont remember any Morgans minted after 1921.