Old Dies

Does anyone know what happens to U.S. coin dies after they have seen their use? This goes for any U.S. coin die used, be it new, old, dies for proofs, bullion, etc.

Thanks for whatever knowledge y'all share on the subject!

 

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Destroyed -or- in the case of state quarters, turned into collector items sold by the Mint.

 

Old coin dies never die, they just fade away....

 

There was a bunch of 1968 S proof dies sold for scrap. Then the coin folk got ahold of them. The design was defaced by melting, but some had quite a bit of detail left.

 

Nowadays, as with the state quarters they completely mill off the face of the die leaving only a flat stub (first pic). There are a few that the have simply defaced as seen in the second photo.

 

Dies that are not completely defaced have been used to create fake errors.

 

Now that they have stopped selling coin and die sets I would imagine the grind the face off and then sell them as scrap metal. Whether they do it privately or via public auction through the GSA I don't know.

 

i have several dies at home.. i love them there just a reminder of what they went threw to make a coin.. i love'm

 

Id love to have an old die as a paper weight on my desk...even if they put an X through it..

 

personally me if i owned a die with a face on it id keep it..

 

i want it i would trade all 6 of my dies and my state quarters set fo that die..

 

Modern times, as far back as 1972, coin dies were simply defaced with a blow torch, melting off the coin’s striking surface and sold as scrap metal. After a hoard of lightly defaced dies came to market, the Mint began to melt the coin dies and recycle the highly desirable die steel. In a change of concept, the State Quarter Program dies were sold with ground off striking surfaces, much to the chagrin of collectors.

Cancelled US Mint coin dies with chisel , grinding wheel or saw marks, typically in a “X” pattern, are highly collectable and command a premium.

 

Here is my lincoln cent cancelled die. In the 2nd pic at the base of the die is a shiny area, that is the flat spot.
http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j368/wvabe/die001.jpg?t=1292635864
http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j368/wvabe/die002.jpg?t=1292635864

 

Sorry that wouldn't come close. Those 1996 Olympic dies with the X cancel are expensive

 

It is believed that a lot of these find there way to china where they are re-engraved to make counterfeits. This is why the mint no longer sells these to the public.

 

Me too. Great idea.

 

I bid 100 quatloos.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220711641296&item=220711641296

Here's a Morgan struck with canceled dies...I am NOT affiliated with this seller or coin.

 

The reverse is an obvious fake, even to one who doesn't specialize in Morgans. The "CC" isn't even close to what the real mint mark looks like.

There's a certain cunning in selling coins minted from "defaced" counterfeit dies.

 

The whole thing is an obvious fake to me. It looks like the cuts are incuse...wrong direction. I agree with Tx John about the mint mark. Overall, it looks like a decent quality cast replica that someone took a chisel to.