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Message:: [QUOTE="Clinker, post: 176281, member: 6229"]In the world of NUMISMATICS there seems to be some confusion about the difference between blanks and planchets.  Look up their definitions on any coin facts, answers, encycloprdia or other coin information website and you get, "a metal disc on to which the devices of a coin image are struck or pressed" for both entities. First, blanks are not always round (the shape of a disc); they may be square, scalloped, rectangular or some other shape.Secondly, blanks are cut from sheets of rolled metal in the composition and thickness of the coin about to be made. Thirdly, blanks are are a little larger then the finished coin will be. Fourthly, blanks are subjected to an annealing process by being heated to 1400 degrees Fahrenheit that softens the metal, then drenched in water and washed to remove any accumulated reside resulting from the annealing process. The blanks final life cycle is spent undergoing a drying process.Fifth, before a coin's devices are struck or pressed, something else must be done to blanks. A. They must go through an upsetting mill. 1. An upsetting mill creates a raised rim. This changes blanks into planchets. NOTE: In the past planchets were called flans. All coins in your collection/s were struck on planchets or flans depending on how old they are. Clinker[/QUOTE]