I know that in the past, the mint strengthened the dies to bring about finer details; if one was to compare a coin from the sixties to one from the twenty first century, one would see so much more details in the newer one. When I look at the new coins of this year however, I see the old, soft hair details used way back then. Did the mint intentionally alter the dies to make it look that way?
I very much prefer the old look. George Washington's hair for example... Compare old vs new look. They have taken good designs and tried too hard to improve them. "tried too hard" being the operative...
I know exactly what you mean! I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the composition of the metal, not being able to strike as clean...?
I agree I'm very dissapointed with the lincoln obverse detail. The hair, bowtie, and really the entire portrait is substandard IMO
oddly enough, these intentional changes were a return to more relief like the coins were minted originally. Look at a 1976 dated cent or quarter and the bust on those coins will closely resemble the 2010 coin. The "new style" that you refer t is actually closer to the old style of the 30s 40s and 50s. I had never heard anyone before that said they liked the flatter designs. In fact, people have referred to Washington's visage on the statehood quarters as "spaghetti hair". The current relief brings the coins to be more like sculpture than stamped tokens that the moderns were IMHO. Call me "old school" but I like the depth. It reminds me more of art.
Hey old school... j/k When I said 'old look', I meant the old stuff, not spagetti hair. (Great name for it!) That's what I was saying about such details... they tried to hard. If they are reverting back to the old style, I am all for it!
As we know everything good is being digitally remastered, Time-Life recordings, Disney movies, Star Wars, etc. Thus is the fate of our coinage. This was a point of discussion with Director Moy at the collector's forum in Hot Springs (and everywhere else I'm sure). According to the Director, these are digital remasterings of the original sculptures and are at a higher relief and detail than the previous design. Good eye to spot the changes.
I am looking at quarters at the moment. They may be higher relief than the previous version, but I don't think it compares to the original silver quarters. The relief on some coins were increased in the early 70's. Then they started lowering it. That is when Washington got hollow cheeks and spagetti hair. I believe this was done to increase die life and to go to one squeeze hubbing.
I believe the new laser cut dies may not produce enough quality. You see a graininess to the new commemorative's as well.
They may be digital remastering and they are of the older style, but they are not higher relief. The relief is about the same as last years so th shallower details typically do not strike up as well and are "faint" even on MS coins.
