Thomas Jefferson 2007 P-Dollar Coin Edge Lettering Upside Down?

Does anyone know if the Presidential coin edge lettering position is supposed to be face up? (1) both TJ 2007-P coins obverse facing (2) edge lettering correct, (3) edge lettering upside down? (4) Liberty' new tattoo! Thanks! (1) (2) (3) (4) (PS. How do you create a hard return in this text box area?)

 

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I don't think it really matters. About half have it facing up and half have it facing down. Either way is actually correct.

 

There's no effort to control the orientation of the edge lettering with respect to the obverse of the coin during striking. So, the orientation of the edge lettering is completely random for all of the new dollar coins.

 

Either way is "normal" and fine. With proof coins, however, it is a little different:
http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/$1coin/?action=edgeIncused

Try a different editor mode and see if that helps. We have had a few comments about this in our Support and Feedback are, and it seems that this fixed it, at least for some members. If you currently use the "Enhanced" editor, go to your forum options http://www.cointalk.com/profile.php?do=editoptions and try "Standard".

Christian

 

Thanks for the link describing the collar for the proof coins. With the proofs, the edge lettering is struck onto the coin at the same time as the obverse/reverse using a 3 piece collar. So the edge lettering does not vary with proofs but does vary with the business strikes. I wonder why they don't use this same 3 piece collar on the business strikes? Anyone know?

 

It is a matter of die pressure. On a normal business strike, the pressure would be way too low for the lettering to be struck well enough. With proofs, the multiple strikes are enough to do the edge lettering.

 

I don't think the pressure has anything to do with why they don't use the 3 piece collar on business strikes. My guess is that it is primarily because the coin output from a press striking coins with the multi-piece edge collar is much less per minute than a regular press with a single piece collar. The 3 piece collar has to "retract" or be opened after each strike before the next planchet can fall in and be struck. I don't know the exact rates, but I have read that set-ups of this type can mint between 80-100 coins per minute (about 5,000 - 6,000 coins per hour).

For business strikes they use a smooth one-piece collar, strike the coin as usual, and the edge lettering is applied after the coin is struck by a very high throughput Schuler Edge Lettering Machine. A regular press can mint 700 coins per minute (about 42,000 per hour). The Schuler Edge Lettering Machine can easily keep up with this, able add edge lettering at 130,000 coins per hour. As you can see, minting the coins in a two step process instead of the more time-intensive three piece collar method means that production can be increased by approximately 7-fold.

Example calculation:

To mint 130,000 presidential dollars in 1 hour you would need:

1. 4 regular dies (and press[es]) and 1 Schuler Edge Lettering Machine

OR

2. 22 multi-piece edge collar dies (and press[es])

 

Thanks for your responses. Maybe both answers can be correct.

 

Thank you.

 

Thanks!
It worked...

 

Hi Christian, I changed the compatibility settings and that resolved the browser/hard return problem.

Regarding your comment on edge lettering and State quarter proof coins... I've read about the special handling proofs receive and I’m finding the lengthy descriptions about the process only add to my confusion. I try to watch for circulated proof strikes although, I really don't see the difference between a proof and business strike. Photos on PCGS don’t help much either since I don’t understand the key identifiers for proofs.

Do you, or anyone else on the forum, have any tips for spotting a circulated proof?

 

Okay - I'm lost. But thanks for the links. I have a lot to learn for sure.