I purchased this Type I standing liberty quarter some time ago. It is graded ANACS AU58. I never noticed until I was looking at some scans today that it has doubling involving the lettering on the reverse. (see photos). It's especially noticeable on the Q, U, R and E of "QUARTER". In the past, I have never been able to see doubling that others see and when I see doubling, other observers tend to dismiss it as insignificant. Do you think this degree of doubling is significant?
I'm no expert at doubling, so don't value my opinion too much. But from what I understand machine doubling is when the coin is struck the dies bounces a little (called chatter) or slips a bit, thus causing the doubling.
regular doubling is quite different. It happens when a die in being made, when a die is made several engravings have to be done, with anealing inbetween. Doubling happens when the coins goes back to engraving after anealing and it dosnt line up with the last engraving.
So are you saying that regular doubling is doubling on the die and machine doubling occurs during the striking process? That explains the term "double die" D'oh! You'd think the mint employees would be very careful to avoid doubling on the die.
Yup. If it's the die itself, one expects to find multiple pieces with the same die signature. If there is only one piece, it's probably something unique about the manufacture of that piece. Or maybe we just haven't found the others yet ! I read something interesting in The Cherrypicker's Guide last night... there are several factors which affect the value of a variety other than the obvious (population). The more conspicuous the variety, the more valuable they tend to be - collectors get more excited. If you have to get out a 16x loupe to spot some micro-variance, collectors show less interest. Also, lower value of a "normal" piece tends to make the variety more valuable. All of which adds up for the '55 DDO Lincoln 1c.
The consistency of the doubling over the letters, as well as the flatness and shelf-like appearance of the doubled areas are definite indicators of strike doubling. That Stanton article is outstanding.....I learned so much when I read it for the first time.
Thanks! Now that I have the explanation for how they arise, my next question was going to be "how do you tell which kind of doubling it is?".
They explain all of that in the article, perhaps you need to read it again more slowly this time. They use side by side pics of strike doubling next to doubled die.
I read the article, but the answers to the quiz at the end seemed random to me. I guess the simple rule of thumb is if I have the coin, it's machine doubling. If someone is trying to sell it to me, it's die-doubling.
That's not true at all, it's really not hard to tell the difference. I'd be more than happy to try and explain - pick out a picture or two from the quiz specifically, tell us why or what you don't understand about the answer and I'l try to explain the specifics of it for you.
