Reeded edges were introduced to stop shaving of the coin edge and is on almost all us coins. However I've heard that there are five silver u.s. coins that were issued that didn't have reeded edges. Anyone know which five silver coins didn't?
The earliest silver dollars and halves had lettered / ornamented edges. I'm not sure that counts, as I would think that coincides with the reeded edge as an anti-shaving device.
Flowing and Draped dollars, and Flowing, Draped and Capped bust halves. 3CS, twenty cent pieces, and war nickels (if you consider them silver). Lance.
Ornamental designs on US coins were introduced to stop shaving, not the reeded edge. The reeded edge certainly helps to stop this practice, but the reeded edge became quite practical when the US adopted a close collar striking strategy vs. the open collar striking strategy. The close collar provided the reeding at the same time that the coin was struck whereas with open collar coins one would use a Castaing machine to introduce letters or ornamentation on the edges.
It goes back much further than that Tom. Reeded edges on coins were first introduced in France in 1643 with the advent of milled coinage, and their purpose was specifically to stop shaving. The rest of the world followed France's example after that. Over the years some countries changed and used edge lettering or edge designs. But the purpose was always the same - to stop edge shaving. Long before the close collar ever existed various mints used a 3rd die to impart the edge design, or reeding, to coins in a completely separate process. Usually this was done after the coin was already struck, but there were some cases where the coin went through the edge design process before striking, but not many.
So do we have a definitive list of 5 us silver exceptions, coins that weren't reeded edges? Since reading about it's been bugging me.
I agree with you completely, GDJMSP. I had read the topic as US coinage-specific and thus responded by keeping my answer in that realm. For tdogchristy90, Silver US coinage that does not have a reeded edge would include Flowing Hair, Draped Bust Small Eagle and Draped Bust Large Eagle dollars; Flowing Hair, Draped Bust Small Eagle, Draped Bust Large Eagle and Capped Bust half dollars; Twenty-Cent pieces; War composition Jefferson nickels; and Three-Cent silver coinage, Types I, II and III. Therefore, there are quite a few more than five US coinage series struck in silver and produced for regular commercial usage that contained silver without a reeded edge.
But the reeded edge on US coins has been applied by the collar since 1795 (1794 half dimes). The reeded edge was not applied to the planchet by the Castaining machine like the lettered edges were.
That is true and I never meant to infer that the reeded edge had been placed onto the coins by the Castaing machine.
