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Images of Die Polish on Newfoundland Coinage
TomB
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In an earlier thread dedicated to Newfoundland coinage, I asked about the apparent die polish lines on a coin shared with the group. There was a short bit of discussion that followed regarding die polish, but I thought these images would show it well.
The coins below are all specimen striking 1904-H Newfoundland twenty-cent pieces. The total PCGS certified population for these specimens is 14-coins, but I would assume some of these are re-grades and, thus, counted more than one time. My opinion is that the true production number for this specimen striking is no more than a dozen pieces. The source for all the specimen strikes is the Heaton Mint Cabinet (alternatively Heaton Mint Archive or Heaton Mint Hoard) that came to be auctioned and sold privately by Paramount International from about 1975-1978. I'd imagine a fair few of the ultra-low mintage, specimen strike coins from around the world came from these sales.
All of the 1904-H Newfoundland twenty-cent pieces that I have seen have extensive die polish on both obverse and reverse and the pattern and placement of the die polish is identical. Also, each coin that I have seen is either essentially completely untoned or covered in a very light champagne patina, which I think comes from the coins being stored together and toning similarly. Below are three obverse images from three of these coins. The top two coins are SP66 and the images are PCGS True View images that I have reformatted to match the third image. The third image is my coin, which is a SP67 in an old green holder (OGH). Unfortunately, the OGHs have a tendency to have plastic with inferior optical clarity and oftentimes are a bit scuffed up and show their age. While the slab that my coin is in is quite well preserved, it was nonetheless made with this optically inferior plastic and getting images that show off the die polish can be tricky.
Major groups of die polish can be seen as near-vertical lines that appear both in front of and behind the portrait of Edward VII. These lines are largely parallel to one another and within the open field of the obverse, but some of them cross each other's paths. Additionally, the portrait is also smothered in die polish lines. These last two points are important to note as many folks believe die polish lines do not cross one another and that they never appear on the raised devices. These coins clearly show otherwise.
The reverse of this issue is also interesting. The quasi-psychedelic, Spirograph-like reverse of William Henry James Blakemore's interpretation of the George William DeSaulles design has a textured, variegated field much like the contemporary, though slightly later, Type I Buffalo nickel of James Earle Fraser. However, the reverse also has die polish in a near-vertical manner with lines that cross one another, although these lines generally do not impinge upon the more delicate lettering and design elements. If tilted somewhat, these die polish lines essentially disappear to reveal the textured feel of the reverse surface. An image that focuses more heavily on the die polish is shown as the top reverse image while the bottom reverse image highlights the textured field aspect of the coin.
Please note that aside from the obverse image of my coin used in this thread, all images are PCGS True View images of two coins that I do not own. The PCGS True View process allows the imaging of coins prior to encapsulation, which allows greater control of lighting parameters to highlight any aspect of a coin deemed desirable or of interest. Also note that while I adore Newfoundland coinage, I truly have a soft spot for Newfoundland specimen coinage and believe that these pieces, which were created in astonishingly small numbers, represent what might be termed "sleeping giants" within this great field.
The coins below are all specimen striking 1904-H Newfoundland twenty-cent pieces. The total PCGS certified population for these specimens is 14-coins, but I would assume some of these are re-grades and, thus, counted more than one time. My opinion is that the true production number for this specimen striking is no more than a dozen pieces. The source for all the specimen strikes is the Heaton Mint Cabinet (alternatively Heaton Mint Archive or Heaton Mint Hoard) that came to be auctioned and sold privately by Paramount International from about 1975-1978. I'd imagine a fair few of the ultra-low mintage, specimen strike coins from around the world came from these sales.
All of the 1904-H Newfoundland twenty-cent pieces that I have seen have extensive die polish on both obverse and reverse and the pattern and placement of the die polish is identical. Also, each coin that I have seen is either essentially completely untoned or covered in a very light champagne patina, which I think comes from the coins being stored together and toning similarly. Below are three obverse images from three of these coins. The top two coins are SP66 and the images are PCGS True View images that I have reformatted to match the third image. The third image is my coin, which is a SP67 in an old green holder (OGH). Unfortunately, the OGHs have a tendency to have plastic with inferior optical clarity and oftentimes are a bit scuffed up and show their age. While the slab that my coin is in is quite well preserved, it was nonetheless made with this optically inferior plastic and getting images that show off the die polish can be tricky.
Major groups of die polish can be seen as near-vertical lines that appear both in front of and behind the portrait of Edward VII. These lines are largely parallel to one another and within the open field of the obverse, but some of them cross each other's paths. Additionally, the portrait is also smothered in die polish lines. These last two points are important to note as many folks believe die polish lines do not cross one another and that they never appear on the raised devices. These coins clearly show otherwise.
The reverse of this issue is also interesting. The quasi-psychedelic, Spirograph-like reverse of William Henry James Blakemore's interpretation of the George William DeSaulles design has a textured, variegated field much like the contemporary, though slightly later, Type I Buffalo nickel of James Earle Fraser. However, the reverse also has die polish in a near-vertical manner with lines that cross one another, although these lines generally do not impinge upon the more delicate lettering and design elements. If tilted somewhat, these die polish lines essentially disappear to reveal the textured feel of the reverse surface. An image that focuses more heavily on the die polish is shown as the top reverse image while the bottom reverse image highlights the textured field aspect of the coin.
Please note that aside from the obverse image of my coin used in this thread, all images are PCGS True View images of two coins that I do not own. The PCGS True View process allows the imaging of coins prior to encapsulation, which allows greater control of lighting parameters to highlight any aspect of a coin deemed desirable or of interest. Also note that while I adore Newfoundland coinage, I truly have a soft spot for Newfoundland specimen coinage and believe that these pieces, which were created in astonishingly small numbers, represent what might be termed "sleeping giants" within this great field.
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your persistance is great. I think with this post you will have opened a interesting thread, especially amongst NFL collectors.
I will post my other images this weekend. I know I promised in the other post that I would do it.
might even take new images to show, including my latest aquisitions.
TomB, do die polish lines ever occur in small isolated patches, or do they always cover the entire fields as seems to be the case with the coins pictured? Thanks.
Mercury dimes are quite famous for having patches of die polish lines on the obverse, typically in a small patch either directly in front of the portrait of Ms. Liberty or directly behind it. There are other examples, too, such as on the coat of Thomas Jefferson for the Jefferson nickel series.
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TomB, I believe that most of them, according to your post, have some degree of die polishing.
please correct me if I am wrong.
thanks for the info and help. I had no clew about die polishing. heard the term but no idea....until now.
Please feel free to comment on these coins, good or bad...
thanks
Please note that these are simply my interpretations of your images. Three of the copper coins (B, D and G) appear to feature woodgrain toning patterns and these are more commonly known as woodies on the US coin boards. This is a pattern developed by toning and is likely affected, at least in part, by planchet preparation. This is not die polish. I can't get a feel at all for the last copper coin (A).
However, two coins (C and E) show definite die polish throughout the fields on their reverses. It is tougher to see this on one coin (C) with it's very white reverse that might be overexposed, but much easier to see it on the other coin (E) with lots of toning to provide contrast.
I'm not certain of the practices at the Mint when these were produced, but the Newfoundland coins seem to show up with more die polish than either Canadian or US coins from the same time period and I find this interesting. Thank you again for the images.
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is that ???? a waste of a perfectly fine MS grade CC dollar?
That's some awesome, heavy mint-made die polish on that coin. At about 2:00 o'clock, just inside the wreath (beneath the ME of AMERICA) appears to be the remnants of a heavy die clash with the obverse. I'd imagine that the raised portions of the reverse die, which is the low relief field of the coin, took a pretty good smacking from the obverse die and was left with a strong clash mark. These clash marks can then be reduced or erased entirely by polishing the die.
That is a spectacular example.
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thank you for the education on this. Very interesting.
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