Could anyone tell me if the mint would discontinue use and through out die pairs which experienced a heavy die clash on the obverse and reverse…or would they make an attempt to dress up or polish them? These photos are of an EDS 70D DDR-003 Kennedy Half Dollar…could someone expect to find later die states of the DDR-003? Thank You Larry Nienaber
The fate of such dies seems to vary quite a bit. I suppose production quotas, the time of day (or night) the clash occurs, and how energetic the mint employee on duty is helps determine the next step taken. Sometimes dies with heavy clash marks are abraded ("polished") in an attempt to remove them. If severe enough, it might be taken out of service once the damage is detected. Or it might be allowed to continue until the clash marks weaken and disappear from die wear.
I had asked a question... if the mint would discontinue use and through out die pairs which experienced a heavy die clash on the obverse and reverse…or would they make an attempt to dress up or polish them? Now I know, at least in reguards to the 70D DDR-003 Kennedy Half Dollar. I just found a LDS example, after the clash for this half dollar. You can see the sequence, before clash, clash, and after clash in the attached photos, note the die gouge marker on the upper neck. Larry Nienaber
