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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 1842274, member: 112&quot;]Yes the TPGs love luster. And yes a polished die, actually the term used should be a re-polished die, does produce more luster. But, there is a very important caveat that goes with statement - they produce more luster than what exactly ?</p><p><br /></p><p>If you don&#039;t really understand that statement, and I mean really understand it, that statement can be very misleading ! And it will have you believing things that are simply not true.</p><p><br /></p><p>First of all let me explain what I mean by a re-polished die. I say re-polished because all dies are polished when they are first made. A re-polished die is one is that has been used to the point that metal flow has produced wear lines in the die that disrupt and lessen the luster on the coins that die produces. And then that die is taken out of use, sent back to the shop, and is re-polished for additional use.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now when you see a coin that has very obvious die polish lines on it, that coin came from a die that was NOT re-polished correctly. Polishing a die is something that occurs in steps, not just in a single process. And if you shortcut the process and don&#039;t do all the steps then you will end up with a die that produces coins that look just like the one in this thread.</p><p><br /></p><p>Die polishing is done by impregnating a large zinc plate with various different grits of diamond dust paste, with the starting grit being course and each successive grit being finer and finer. The die is then held by machine against this spinning zinc plate and polished. When this is done correctly and all of the steps are followed, meaning that you continue to polish the die until you get to the finest grit of paste, then you will not be able to see die polish lines on the coins produced by that die.</p><p><br /></p><p>But when it is done incorrectly and they stop the polishing process before the finest grits are used, then that die will produce coins that have very obvious die polish lines. That much should be pretty easy to understand.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now here&#039;s the part where a lot of folks get confused and don&#039;t understand. It is a given that fresh, brand new dies produce coins with the best luster, the best strike, the best of everything. And as those dies are used metal flow from the coins being struck wear against those dies. And the more wear there is, the less luster there is on the coins. That is also a given, otherwise why would they stop using dies and re-polish them. But <u>why</u> it is a given is what you need to understand.</p><p><br /></p><p>Coins that have the best luster are those that were produced from dies that have the best polish, the highest degree of polish if you will. And the reason those coins have the best luster is because the polish lines on the die are so fine, so low, so uniform, and so close together that they can barely be seen by the naked eye. Fineness and uniformity of die polish produces the best luster. Luster is nothing but the reflection and refraction of light from the surface of a coin. That&#039;s why Proofs have a mirror like finish and business strikes don&#039;t, because the die polishing is taken to the final step where the polishing paste is its absolute finest. Proofs have that mirror like finish because the die polish lines, on the die, are so fine, so low, so uniform, and so close together, that they reflect an almost perfect image. Proofs have the highest degree of luster that there is on coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>But back to the business strikes now. Dies that have been well used produce coins with less luster than the coins that were produced by those dies when they were new. That is because the metal flowing across the surface of the dies when coins are struck eats into the surface of the die and creates rougher and more coarse lines, with some being bigger and higher than others are. This lack of uniformity causes a disruption, a disturbance in the light being reflected from the coin, it causes the coin to have less luster.</p><p><br /></p><p>So now, we come to a well worn die and it is producing coins that have less luster than is desired. So that die is removed from production and sent back for re-polishing. But as I said above, if steps are skipped then that die will have highly visible die polish lines. And if it does then that means there will be a lack of uniformity and a luster that is less than desired.</p><p><br /></p><p>Yes, the coins produced from that improperly re-polished die will have more luster than the coins did that were being when the die was taken out of service. But they will have less luster than coins produced from fresh, new dies.</p><p><br /></p><p>So do you see what I mean when I say - they will produce more luster than what exactly ?</p><p><br /></p><p>Coins with highly visible die polish lines come from dies that were not re-polished correctly - they skipped a step or two. And those coins have less luster because those big die polish lines break up the uniformity. But they have more luster than coins from dies that are all worn out - but only those.</p><p><br /></p><p>When you fully understand it, highly visible die polish lines on a coin are not a good thing. And they should be shied away from, not admired.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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