I have a newbie question that I'm hoping someone can answer about my reverse proofs. All have split letters on the reverse of the coin & the consensus on here is that it must be mechanical doubling. What doesn't make sense to me though is that 1 of my reverse proofs has a rotated reverse die, yet still has the same split letters in the exact same way/place as the others which DON'T have a rotated reverse. Does that mean: A : I have coins that were made by the same die before & after the reverse die got rotated? B : There's another explanation for why the letters look like they're splitting C: Something else that I haven't thought of...
If you can post a picture we can maybe help with an answer. It's hard to say what's going on based on a description.
No problem, here you go. Also, I don't want people to think that I'm rehashing the same thread that I started a few weeks ago. It just hit me today that even the rotated coin that I just purchased has the same letter issues going on as the coins that I got from the mint. One of the coins looks a little different, but it's just b/c I didn't get the angle exactly the same that time. I can retake pics if needed. Coin 1 (This is the one with the slightly rotated reverse...Guessing 10-15 degrees CW rotation) Coin 2 Coin 3 Coin 4 (This coin looks the same as the others also. My pic just doesn't have the lighting or angle exactly the same.)
Those are not "split" letters. Those are letters affected somehow by the minting process during the ejection phase. Also, the die rotation which you've reported is well within acceptable tolerances.
I'm not trying to dispute what the letters are. I'm just curious to know why the coin with the rotated reverse shows the same letter issue as the other 3 coins that don't have rotated reverses. Shouldn't different letters be affected in that coin whether it's an ejection issue or whatever? It seems strange to me that it looks the same as the others.
Can you explain it from your perspective then? To me, it seems like the odds of that kind of coincidence are not likely. These aren't the only 2 letters affected. The coins share many other similar letters. For the sake of time/space I just centered in on this area to show the similarities between the 4 separate coins.
Ejection doubling is caused from loose, worn, or out of adjustment presses. It is not uncommon for the condition to occur on multiple coins until its corrected and if the coins coming off the press are within tolerance then the situation continues. Each occurance of ejection doubling would appear very similar until it was corrected. This also includes slight rotation in the dies. Having multiple coins within a shipment that all exhibit the same features is also not uncommon for specialy coins such as the silver eagles in that the coins are handled sequentially for packaging and shipping. These coins have never seen the inside of a shipping bag but are more than likely handled via trays. If you really want an in depth look at your coin, send it off to a professional. CONECA has quite a few folks the specialize in die varieties and minting errors. http://www.conecaonline.org/
Except...the rotated eagle coin was purchased from an Ebay seller many weeks after I got the other 3 from the mint. Maybe you're right, but it just seems like a heck of a coincidence.
But that's all it is, a coincidence. The slight die rotation and the mechanical doubling can both be caused by the same thing - a loose die in the press. And it is not an uncommon thing.
It becomes a lot less of a coincidence when you realize that the entire coinage some for only 20 to 30 die pairs. That means if you select any two coins at random from different sources there is about a 5% chance they both came from the same die pair.
