So I'm comparing a Washington Quarter that I own to a specific example..What it is does not matter for comparison purposes but I noticed something that to me, looks like a great marker to look for. My question is.. would this commonly be found on multiple dies used or one specific die? The "I" from both pictures is split almost diagonally and other letters appear to be directly comparable like the large hump on the top of the G, doubling of the O, etc..Is this enough to say it was likely the same die, probably in a later state?
There's a few things that can happen. You can get the same features across multiple dies if the master die has an anomaly. The same thing can happen but with fewer dies if an anomaly occurs on a working hub. I don't tend to look at device diagnostics to match dies across multiple coins. I look for diagnostics, like die cracks or gouges or polishing lines in the fields to link coins to the same die.
@Jim Johns The diagonals on the "I" are different. The one on the bottom photo is longer than the one on the top photo. Chris
In general, die markers (other than breaks) close to the rim are unreliable because of the way a die wears. If I'm looking to confirm that two dies were the same, I look near the center of the design in a recessed area where a polishing line or two may show up. Features present in the devices or lettering may also be a result of the working hub, and not the working die. If there were a recessed, diagonal gouge in the I of IN that was not due to circulation damage, for example, I would expect that this would have been in the hub, and that several working dies had this feature.
