Where can I find a diagram of the cross-section of the letters and numbers of a Lincoln cent? (devises?)
Interesting question.... A cross section would be as if the cent was sliced in half and you are viewing along the sliced edge. Myself, I have never seen an image like this.
Sometimes under my microscope I see a larger image of a letter underneath. I think the sides are a worn die or are concave so I thought a diagram of a normal cross section would help me understand what I'm seeing.
If you’re looking at a coin with greater than 10x magnification, you’re going to “see” all sorts of things that either aren’t there or totally inconsequential. IMHO, you are wasting your time with that microscope.
Examining cross-section, the worst instrument to use is a light microscope as reflections can give false layers ( as are many of the 'false' Doubled dies presented to the forum). Ultrasound derived microscopes are much better to use, since the science of ultrasound has greatly enhanced the resolution .. Here are some results from Google on " Cross section of coin dies", there are more, but they will take some time to read. Nice illustrations in many. Hey Ancient coin people, many are in your area ! https://www.researchgate.net/figure...e-deviation-in-height-between_fig19_313300577 https://www.researchgate.net/public...cording_and_examination_of_Roman_silver_coins http://warehamforgeblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/coins-and-coin-dies.htm https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/82280161.pdf
I can do rendered cross-sections using focus stacking technique. Which letters are you looking for cross-sections of?
No letter in particular. Just trying to see what a normal profile would look like. As in are the sides and tops of a letters like this:
desertgem, I totally agree with you about all the reflections. I've discovered that a single light source does a much better job. thanks
Well, they sort of look like the middle when the die is very new, and then gradually look more like the bottom as the die wears. So the answer depends on the die state. You can see some perspective renderings of coins on my web page. See here for some RPMs that are rendered at an angle, and you can see the numbers of the date and how they are shaped. This is not a cross section but does give you an idea of how the die wear produces a slope on the edges of the devices. http://www.macrocoins.com/rpms-in-3d.html
The easiest way to do that is to simply look at the coins. You can do that by looking at pocket change - you'll get some unc or close to unc coins in change as well as worn ones. You can also do it by going to coin shows or dealer shops, and even by looking at pictures. But in all the years I've been involved with coins I've never seen actual cross sections anywhere. And there's really no set thing, they're all different. Sometimes it's by design, sometimes it's due to die wear, sometimes the time period, sometimes the denomination, etc etc etc. But as a general rule the edges of the raised portions of a coin will be sloped to a certain degree, and rounded, because they have to be. If they weren't sloped, they would stick to the dies when they were struck. Now if what you want to find out are what the high points of a given coin are, that you can find in specialty books - books written specifically about a given coin. Some of the more common ones like Morgans and Peace dollars and Lincoln cents, those you can find on various websites and even in some grading books.
Thanks all. You been very informative and I think all I need now is a $1M lotto ticket and what rmpsrmps uses.
