Thingee, How-Did-That-Happen

The only "Die" that is actually engraved is the mater hub. All other hubs and dies are made by squeezing the blank and hub together under a lot of pressure.

Edited for spelling error.

There are several faults in that explanation and parts of the other, I am sorry to say.

First, the diagnosis of the lines is actually correct. This is the effect of die polishing also called die dressing. It is often done to a die after two dies clash so that a die showing clash marks can continue in service.

Just about everything else is out in the ether somewhere.

A model of the coin around 15 inches in diameter is used by placing it on a Reducing Machine (Janvier Transfer reducing Machine). Its a lathe like thing that takes the design and puts it on the end of a piece of steel with the finished piece having the design on it the same size as a coin. This is the first Master Hub.

Without going into all the metallurgy of the process, The Master Hub is used to make a Master Die. It is a hydraulic process whereby the Hub is pressed into a piece of steel to make the die.

They then reverse this. They use a Master die to create a Working Hub. They make many Working Hubs. Again, pressure is used to press the master die into the rods used as hubs.

The working hubs are then used to create working dies. Also, the shape of the tips of the rods used to create working dies are slightly conical and not flat.

OK, now you have working dies in a press that just clashed. If it is caught, a technician removes the die, dresses it, creating those minute scratches , and at a later time loads it back into the press.

Some of the coins will show the scratches. It is simply the immense pressure of the strikes that cause the lines to show up on coins as they are marks on the die. Eventually the pressure of subsequent strikes will obliterate the lines after awhile. Heat and molten metal plays no part in this.

Thanks,
Bill

Thanks for the thread MorgansRmine. I think I've got it now thanks to the posters!