I'm sure my scan is lame but you can sorta see the differences. the newer Eagle is well defined and the older one is no-so-much. What explains this difference? I assume it's just later in the production run?
Yes more then likely the 1986 was made later in the production run and with worn dies so the details on the coin didn't turn out as well. Plus with todays technology i'd bet the dies are made a bit better then they used to be~
^ What he said. Another interesting thing to note is that the tolerances were looser on older bullion weightwise. If you weighed some older AGEs and compared them to newer ones or other gold/silver bullion, there's a lot more variance in weight. The newer eagles are usually +/- .01 grams. I've had older eagles that weighed slightly over 34 grams before. The weight is usually always more, and not less. I guess it's a better be safe and go over than issue coins that are too light.
Not only that but the minting process and presses have greatly improved since 2006 so comparing all the way back to 1986 is like night and day. Getting a MS 69/70 gold/silver eagle was rare up until 2005/2006. Now days 69 is the norm.
In addition to improvements in engraving due to computerization, automation, etc., they struck the ASE's in West Point in 2006 versus San Francisco in 1986. Although SF is a good mint, I believe that the West Point mint strikes the best coins.
