A Study Of Feeder Mechanism Die Damage Patterns

That's a great example, Brandmeister! Nice find.

Well, that's interesting. If that is FFD on the obverse of the quarter, does that mean the obverse was the anvil?

We are unable to use FMD as an indicator for die installation since the damage, at least in more recent years appears on both dies.

The first Schuler Presses arrived at the mint before October, 1987 and most likely operated with a Pusher Feeding Mechanism, since Schuler was not assigned a Dial Feeder Patent until 2018. The Patent for the Pusher Mechanism was granted June 10, 1969. Dial Feeders on Schuler Presses went into use around 2018.

Circulating coin presses are primarily Schuler MRH 150 press. MRH stands for Münz-Prägepresse, Rund, Horizontal, which translates from German to "Minting Press, Round, Horizontal". 150 refers to the press's maximum coining force or capacity, which is 150 metric tons)

For this 1996 quarter Bliss Presses would have been actively used alongside the new Schuler presses. All but 4 Schuler presses were horizontal stroke presses and had inverted die installation (obverse as anvil).