Do you think there is a difference in the eagle's eye in the W versus the S minted 2011 ASE bullion coin? Ken (green18): No, I have not been drinking...yet. TC
Yeah, it seems that on the second image the pupil is much less defined. Also, on the second image the bottom of the beak almost touches the top part, whereas the first image has a much larger gap.
Since they are made from master hubs, you could have differences between two dies but I doubt long term the differences will continue. I would bet either SF strikes coins looking like the WP mint, vice versa, or both. What I am saying is I am betting it will not be indicative long term of coins from those two mints enough for identification when the year is over. I do see a difference though,
They're different, but I think it may be because the top one is struck better than the bottom image. And the top image is focused better than the bottom. -LTB
I see a difference in strike. The bottom one has the same details, but on a weaker strike. Maybe the top one was struck before the die was very worn, where the bottom one may have been later in the die's life.
Yes I do see a slight differences between those two coins. Now we need to see several examples from each mint produced over a period of time to see if this is an actual difference in the hubs, or just an artifact of a single hub/die. In short is that difference consistant over time. If it isn't then it isn't a difference between the two mints.
The top coin is a raw 2011 ASE purchased in late January 2011 and placed in an Intercept Shield holder. The bottom coin was purchased last week and is in an NGC Early Releases holder (graded MS69) and designated as struck in San Francisco. TC
Sorry for my ignorance on this one, but is the mint telling the grading companies the mint location of 2011 ASE's?
Nah, it's the strap on the "monster box" that's telling the TPG'er where the eagles come from. If someone wants to get the San Fran designation they've got to send in all 500 for grading.
If anyone else has a 2011 ASE with a San Francisco TPG designation, please post a close-up pic of the eagle's eye for comparison. Thanks, TC
The US Mint has my ASE Silver proofs scheduled for release on June 30th. I guess we need compare them, also.
No monster box for me. I just bought one NGC MS69 with the designation from an online vendor for my ASE collection. TC