Is there a standard way that dies are polished? In some cases, I see the lines go circularly around the device, other times they all run parallel in one direction, and yet other times they emit radially from the central device. Are all of these patterns normal, or are any indications of something else, like coin cleaning or doctoring? And then there are those without any die polish lines, are those dipped? Are the polish lines on proof coins different than business strikes?
Die polish lines are not at all like lines from cleaning, they are raised while cleaning lines are scratched into the coin. I don't think there was ever a set rule as the correct way to polish a die, I've seen all sorts of different ways. It is just a way to clean up the die after a lot of use or a boo boo like a clash. It's just like taking sandpaper to a rusty spoon......:smile
How can you tell whether a tiny line is raised? For example, if you look at the photos I posted to this thread: http://www.cointalk.org/showthread.php?t=18049 The large line is easy to determine that it is raised, but what about the smaller lines that run perpendicular to it? What are those from? This coin was taken from a new BU bank roll.
That is 60X? Well, I don't know what to say then..... My very first impression was that the "gouge" was a gas bubble, seeing the die polish on top of it. The polish lines really shouldn't be on top of the gouge, it should be free of them like Lincoln is. The gouge should be incuse on the die and the polishing shouldn't effect it too much, so to be honest, I just don't know. Try adjusting the light on your pics, maybe that will help us to see what is going on. My pic is of a die scratch on a Morgan. It's one of the leaves in her hair. See how the scratch skips through the leaf? That is because the leaf is incuse on the die, and that is what I expected to see on your Lincoln if the line on it was a gouge.
