Anyone know how to get information from the mint about how many dies were used to produce the full run of each unc P 5oz’er?
There was a thread about 2 months ago where this came into discussion. Someone who was a metallurgist or associated with die making mentioned that it was possible for the 2010 ATB's to be struck from one set of dies for each state in the series. This same set could have enough life left in it to be used for the collector series besides. (Not that this was done in actuality). Sometimes even the trade magazines find it impossible to get information out of the mint. For a collector to do it on his own seems remote. Perhaps if you were a verified writer or publicist, you would have the best chance. Maybe write to one of the magazine columnists and they could shed some light on it.
There are ways to get the information since it must be reported to the GAO and would fall under the Freedom of Information Act. Chris
The Freedom of Information Act may make it available somewhere, but I don't think it will be an easy or simple find. I just spent 10 minutes on the internet with no leads. There is a point where the answer isn't worth your time anymore. My 10 minutes are up. How much effort are you willing to put into this statequarterguy?
That's one of the unique aspects of this series...they don't use dies. All the 5oz coins are produced from hubs.
I too spent ten minutes looking..turned into longer. Ended up sending a letter to BEP or a starting point. Don't know if they will answer, but I sure learned a lot about their process for notes!
Interesting, I've only heard of hubbing used for making dies. Do you know if all are made from one hub or do they go through multiple hubs?
Coin World had a whole article about the production of the ATB 5 Oz coins a while back. A Master Hub is produced for each design and Working Hubs are produced from the Master Hub. Normally, Master dies are then produced from Working Hubs and Working dies produced from Master dies. In the case of the ATB 5 Oz bullion coins, Working Hubs are used to actually strike the coins in order to preserve as much detail as possible. I'm sure there must be other coins (patterns, for instance) that have been struck from hubs, but this is the first one I've heard of.
I tried to find the Coin World article I read that discussed the minting process of the ATB 5 Oz coins. I can't find it, but found another article from americathebeautifulsilver.com that's pretty good. According to their article, I got the process a bit wrong. They say, In any event...it's different than the normal process.
Even more interesting, sounds like each die could be slightly unique. Probably not many dies used, so could collect by die variety.
The First Spouse collection is wearing me out, so I was resolved to forego the ATB 5 Oz series. However, when I read about their unique production methods, I went ahead and got a set. Given the low mintage and "thin" distribution, I expect the 2010 ATB 5 Oz coins will hold their value nicely. Additionally, it may take some time for die varieties (if they exist) to come to light. I was reading an article the other day about a 5 Oz ATB coin that the owner thought might be a doubled-die. I wish I could remember where I read it...but (due to the die preparation technique) probably isn't a doubled-die. I would guess "machine doubling", but don't know enough about the striking process to venture a guess. Interesting topic, though...:thumb:
Take a look at this thread, post #14, the doubling on that coin has the separation typical of a double die. But the owner hasn't responded with additional photos. http://www.cointalk.com/t174101/
