How much die rotation occurs until the Mint notices to reorient the dies? Or, maybe they won't even notice it at all, in which case, how much of a rotation is beyond the likelihood of occurrence? I've had a few coins with about a 5° degree die rotation, but they seem to not be as rare, and certainly not enough to add a noticeable premium. I purchased this buffalo nickel below and I think it was struck from a 20° or so rotated die. It's certainly noticeable but not as noticeable as a 180° die rotation or medal alignment US coin. At the same time, I can't ignore it as I don't see coins with this much rotation as often, though I'll probably often overlook anything that isn't between 90° and 270°. So, is say, half of this rotation or 10° the threshold when die rotations at the Mint become less likely to occur? Or what is the minimum significant rotation value? I'm sure it depends on the individual coin, and the period in time when the coins were struck. But for most US coins in the 20th century to the present day, large and noticeable rotations don't seem to be too frequent. Thanks in advance!
I'll bet the Mint doesn't really care. If someone finds a coin with an extreme rotation, the Mint is probably thinking to themselves, "Good! That just means that some fool will spend more money buying our products looking for more of them." Chris
I think I've heard somewhere it has to be 15% or more to be graded as such. I could be wrong. I do know most TPGers mount $1 gold coins crooked in their holders, because the bust looks like it is supposed to be tilted at a certain angle, and it really shouldn't. That makes a lot of $1 gold look like they have a rotated die when they really don't. Here are a few rotated dies I have currently:
As a general rule, unless things are making loud clanking noises and/or pieces-parts are flying around, the Mint doesn't really notice such things until scheduled checks. Keep in mind, whatever the level of production they've always pretty much produced coins as fast as they could, and checking every one has never been part of the procedure. There are issues for which nearly the entire production is known to be rotated.
As a side question, how many degrees of rotation are allowed by TPGs before they stick an error label on the slab? I've owned some two cent pieces with maybe 20 degrees rotation, and they didn't get an error label. Cal
15 degrees is tolerance but they don't really have any premium until you hit 45 degrees and even then there isn't much interest until you reach 90 degrees. As for the TPG's labeling them, to a large part it depends on whether or not you have paid them for the Mint error designation (I believe $50 at PCGS and $18 and NGC. In most cases that exceeds the added value of the rotated die.)
