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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Conder101, post: 2987709, member: 66&quot;]Not really.&nbsp; They still punched the mintmark into each die by hand.&nbsp; But when you punch that letter in it displaces metal.&nbsp; Where does that metal go?&nbsp; It tries to go sideways, but there is already other metal there resisting it.&nbsp; So it goes UP forming a raised ridge around the letter.&nbsp; If the mintmark is punched in before the final polishing/lapping, that raised ridge is polished off and the mintmark is then just a depression in a flat field, or a raised letter on a flat field on the coin.&nbsp; If it is punched in AFTER the final polish, or if they don&#039;t do a good job withthe polishing, that raised ridge remains and on the coin the mintmark then sits in a depression.&nbsp; That depression tend to gather dirt and gunk creating the dark area around the mintmark.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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