As I was going trrough a bunch of change today looking for goodies I noticed something . Is it me or do the older cladded coins seem to show less wear than the newer ones ? Would the greater use of vending machines or the material make-up of these coins cause this ? Was just wondering since I have just gotten back into collecting recently .
The material is the same but i would guess it depends on the coin's journey of where it went. Some coins could sit years without being spent. another variable maybe of what your seeing is the low relief vs. high relief coins. im not sure of the exact date but in the 90's the mint started to use low relief dies meaning the coins are more smooth. these low relief coins have been circulated at least 15 years so the appearence might seem more beat up. you can tell and feel the the difference of low relief vs high relief. Say for example you have 4 coins penny,nickel,dime and quarter for the year 1965 and 4 of the same for 1998. you can see and feel the difference between the 2 years. i can tell even when they are in my pocket the difference. hope this helps - Snowman
