Polished dies - I've been meaning to ask this question for about 5 years now
coinrainbows
Posts: 25 ✭✭
Not sure why I've never asked anyone or posted.
Why did polishing dies sometimes result in mirroring and other times in heavy polishing lines? Such a big difference between a DMPL Morgan dollar with deep mirrors and a scratched up lines example from several other series. Was it a matter of the technique and skill of the polisher? Was there a tool difference? Were the procedures purposely different?
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Great question. It's a matter of grit size of the polishing compound used by the mint. Not sure why there is an inconsistence of technique.
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Great question @coinrainbows
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Very good question... I'm not sure though.
the answer is probably in "From Mine to Mint" by Roger Burdette, which has the best description of 19th c. minting procedures that I know of.
Valid question indeed.... Certainly we have seen examples from both ends of the spectrum. Part of it is due to the reason for the polishing...was it just to touch up or was it in preparation for a special run...then of course there is the skill of the individual and the method applied. Many variables. Cheers, RickO
It would be due to the grit size used as stated by others.
I would think it's a lot like woodworking. If you're finishing a die, you would want to use a fine grit at the end of the process. If the die is damaged in use (clash, etc) and needs to get it back in service quickly, the technician might not take the time to go through all of the finer grit polishes. Get it close enough and back into production.
Lazy press operators would just take the die and rub it on some nearby concrete to fix a die clash.
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You know what? That might not be far from the truth................
Pete
Here's one that was treated with coarse grit that also removed the feather.
One thing to remember about this era of coin pressing, tremendous pressure regarding deadlines was placed on the die makers and others and more than likely lack of quality was a direct result of this pressure and not necessarily laziness. JMO
Jim
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Good question with good answers. I like
Agreed
I prefer the unpolished dies . . . on my 99 W gold eagles.
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Working die or working hub?
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
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Working die. But there is at least one more die that shows two feathers. They are completely different dies, not produced from an abraded working hub.
Here's the other die-
Roger Burdette told me that in 1922 (I am researching the 1922 cents) only a Die Setter had the authority to put a die in a press or take one out. A press operator could only stop a press and bring a problem to the Die Setter's attention.
The Die Setter would then take a die over to a work bench if it needed repairs such as a serious polishing to remove clash marks or whatever. That said, there are thousands of dies that show minor "die polish" when a press operator stopped a press and used an emery stick or some other tool to remove grease and grime and maybe metal fragments from the face of a die.
I raised the question because the design/image on the working die is incused/sunk into the die. In other words, since the design/image/details are lower than the fields how could die polishing have erased the feather. Extra metal would have been needed to be added to the working die to fill in the crevasses of the feather to eliminate that area of the die which, of course, is impracticable. On a working hub, the design is/has to be raised up in order for the image to be impressed/stamped onto a die in the making of a working die. So....did the die polishing occur to a working hub instead of a working die? This doesn't sound practicable either since it would have been tedious work polishing around the raised designs/details on the hub and for that matter....or a single coin.
But I can see, after a working hub has made a few working dies that an area of the image would become weaker or became less impressed (fading away) with each striking/making of a new working die. And upon a clash between two working dies, die polishing would need to be done however tedious it may have been, working out whatever damage that occurred in the fields, having to be careful with polishing up to/near the existing details on the working die....no wait....the hub has the raised details not the working die. So how could die polishing have erased a detail on a working die that is lower than the fields?
Leo
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection
A feather is defined in the die by the die steel around it. Polish away that die steel around it, and the feather disappears.
The worse the wear / damage, the courser the sand paper i would imagine.
See.....I just knew there had to be a logical reason. I guess, I should've mowed my yard instead. Thanks!
Leo
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection