1960 Proof Franklin - Die polishing?
Windycity
Posts: 3,548 ✭✭✭✭✭
Odd look to this 1960 Proof Franklin freshly cut from a proof set.
Reverse detail for eagle, Motto and Lettering is crisp but the bell detail is awful. Lettering on bell is faint and bell lines are also very faint. Result of die polishing.
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.mullencoins.com">Mullen Coins Website - Windycity Coin website
0
Comments
Looks pretty normal to these eyes.
I'm going to agree with @FlyingAI and say that nothing looks out of the ordinary. My two cents.
God comes first in everything I do. I’m dedicated to serving Him with my whole life. Coin collecting is just a hobby—but even in that, I seek to honor Him. ✝️
I don’t see any die polishing but the surfaces look pebbly.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
I have a 1959 Franklin proof and when I first got it, I also thought the same thing.
I need a better way or device to take Coin photos as I don’t know why mine are so grainy and just not what the naked eye sees. Mine looks extremely similar in condition and tone to yours.
Normal die wear? Strange looking fields texture.
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
Pebbly yes, looks to me like somethings in there that's not supposed to be? 🫤
(Surface area)
Proof halves of the era tend to show that effect when imaged axially. It's an effect of die wear. You can see something similar in parts of the below images.
I have come across 1950-1964 Proof coins that have the appearance of the 1960 Proof half dollar pictured in the OP.
Proof coins with this appearance are outliers. Ideally these proof coins have fields that are (at best) a smooth, watery black, mirrored appearance. Finding coins with these high quality fields (with minimal or no flaws) is a treat for collectors.
Of course, the manufacture of these proof coins resulted (for various reasons) in coins having a variety of appearances. Some coins look like circulation strike coins having fields that are not mirrored at all. Some coins have mirrored fields but they are shallow and/or are impaired in various ways.
For the 1960 half shown in the OP I can only surmise that:
the granular/pebbly appearance of the fields (resulting in neutral or even negative eye appeal) resulted from original or repolished dies not being adequately polished prior to being placed into service producing coins. The lack of adequate polishing left the die with textured fields that were duplicated on the blank planchet at the time of striking; or
the original or repolished dies were adequately prepared, but during the production run using said dies, the dies deteriorated in a manner that resulted in the creation of the granular/pebbly appearance that was duplicated on the blank planchet at the time of striking; or
as an alterative to 1 and 2 above, the dies were ok, but the planchets used to create the proof coins were not adequately prepared (punched from the metal strip, cleaned and/or polished to create planchets that had smooth, mirrored surfaces), leaving the planchets with the granular/pebbly appearance that survived the trip into and out of the striking chamber.
I would say the pebbly appearance is due to die fatigue. Proof dies do get “tired” after a while, which is why they re-polished and put back into service. Sometimes the die polishing leaves raised lines which can be worse than the pebbling.
That looks like something that will dip off.
Assume late die state and mint trying to get as many coins as possible out of dies
Late die state most likely
God comes first in everything I do. I’m dedicated to serving Him with my whole life. Coin collecting is just a hobby—but even in that, I seek to honor Him. ✝️
Coppercoins.com mentions the 'pebbles' as a die marker for the 1960 large/small date proof Lincoln cent, FS-101, DDO 001. I've owned several examples, and all of them had the 'pebbled' appearance. I also haven't seen this effect on other years, but it's interesting to see on a half dollar of the same year. See their comment here:
https://www.coppercoins.com/lincoln/diestate.php?date=1960&die_id=1960p1do003p&die_state=mds