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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Paul M., post: 2351282, member: 73165&quot;]Yes, exactly.&nbsp; It&#039;s as if the planchet were made of very hard Silly Putty.&nbsp; You don&#039;t need to heat it up to strike a design on it with a modern coin press.&nbsp; (Flans of ancient coins were heated before striking, but that&#039;s because they were struck by hand... literally a guy with a hammer would strike the top die.)</p><p><br /></p><p>Those peaks and valleys come about because the dies get worn.&nbsp; The first few strikes off a fresh die will always appear prooflike (likely with no visible die polishing lines, either) because the dies haven&#039;t worn enough to impart the type of flow lines that create cartwheel luster.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Forget about people arguing over whether the coin has cartwheel luster or not.&nbsp; The fact is, the sun rays on that coin are far, far too large to create a cartwheel luster effect.&nbsp; The surface irregularities that create luster are much smaller than that.&nbsp; <i>That&#039;s</i> why cleaning and dipping can take away the luster from a coin.&nbsp; They do so in different ways, but the fundamental reason it happens is because the surface of the coin is being disrupted.&nbsp; It&#039;s also why luster breaks can point to wear on the coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>I wish I could find a really good video that shows a coin with luster.&nbsp; In the meantime, do what [USER=24314]@Insider[/USER] said and take a coin (preferably an uncirculated coin) and rotate it under a desk lamp in a relatively dark room.&nbsp; You should see the light reflect off the coin in a way that resembles two spokes of a wheel, and those spokes should rotate around the coin as you turn it under the light.&nbsp; That&#039;s luster.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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