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 Replies: 19 / Views: 7,036 |
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Valued Member
United States
131 Posts |
It seems to me that typically the coins I get from the Denver mint are much higher quality quality than what comes from the Philadelphia mint. The coins from P look like they throw the bags down some stairs in order to equally distribute bag marks to EVERY coin. The P's usually have lots more bag marks and scratches than Denver. Mint rolls or bank rolls - it doesn't seem to matter.
I'd like to know what others are experiencing.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
I've noticed this as well. It also seems like Denver produces a lot more semi-prooflike coins. I see tons and tons of prooflike 2000-D nickels, for instance. There is precedent for this - Denver mint Mercury dimes from the late-thirties and the forties are far superior in quality to those from the other mints. Does Denver, I wonder, currently use surplus proof planchets as they apparently did with Ikes in the 70s? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2295 Posts |
I've noticed it too. The D coins have a better strike on them too. I used to trade the State Quarters from rolls and I noticed that the D coins were a better quality than the P ones. For the strike quality, maybe Denver doesn't use the dies as much as Philadelphia? |
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Valued Member
 United States
131 Posts |
Do they all have the same machines? Could it be the layout of the minting rooms, maybe the conveyors are different?
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Valued Member
United States
187 Posts |
I would think that both mints have the same presses. Possibly it is the handling and further processing of the coins at each mint may be somewhat different. Does anyone know if the mints have the exact same equipment?
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
Both mints predominantly use Schuler horizontal presses but I believe they do also still use some of the older presses for business strikes. Since 1996, Denver has had its own die shop so they may use a slightly shorter life cycle for their dies vs. Philly. As far as bagmarks, both mints have been using the the Ballistic Bags that hold 400,000 cents for over a decade now and this handling method has caused the average grade of business strike coinage to drop a point or two. |
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Valued Member
United States
131 Posts |
400,000 wow! What about for the Half dollars? How many of them fit the Ballistic Bag? |
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Valued Member
United States
70 Posts |
I receive the ATB Quarter rolls from both mints every time they come out. I have definitely noticed that the Denver coins are much better. I think the strikes are both ok, but the amount of post strike marks on the Philadelphia quarters are much higher. |
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Maybe something to do with the altitude?
Im sure theres other reasons but thought the altitude possibility would be fun to throw out
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Valued Member
United States
131 Posts |
My calculator says that 400,000 makes 160 boxes. 140 boxes make a ton. So 160 boxes are approx. 2560 lbs.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2270 Posts |
Quote:
Do they all have the same machines? Could it be the layout of the minting rooms, maybe the conveyors are different?
There's not any one reason. Denver is simply better run and operated than Philly as it concerns coin production. However it should be noted that coin quality from both mints form a sort of bell curve. Whilwe most Denver coins are superior to most Philly coins the Philadelphia mint makes some of the finest coins out there. Look at a few hundred 1971 mint sets and you'll see the finest quarter will be a Philly. This occurs in many other dates as well. Nice Philly issues are extremely tough for many many dates but when a nice one is found it can be stupendous. Time don't fly, it bounds and leaps.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Due to the altitude, the air is lesser poluted with STUFF. Therefore the metals used to make the coins in Denver have less dirt on them. Dirt doesn't like to go upward so places like Philidelphia get the higher quantity of dirt floating around during the making of coins. And once a coin is made in Denver, again the air is so clean, the coins just look better. Also, with less air presure it is easier to make coins with the slightest press on the presses. This too helps avoid press problems. Please note all of the above is utterly rediculous which means I really don't know.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1620 Posts |
I don't like to think about my city producing bad coins because when I visit this summer I'm hoping to get some better quality coins then what I've been finding in Alaska
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Best answer goes to Just Carl, that is what I want to believe
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Valued Member
United States
366 Posts |
Has anyone factored in the location they receive the coins? I would expect that living on the east coast would get you Denver coins that are worn more and appear worse in quality, whereas if you live on the west coast it would be the opposite.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
561 Posts |
Still fairly new to this whole thing but I certainly noticed a big difference in the strike quality between he mints while searching my box of nickels. It seemed that almost every nickel that was extremely well struck was from he Denver mint. Bag marks and such seemed to be pretty comparable.
I have to agree, just_carl has the best answer by far. I am going to recommend that we adopt it as the official answer to the OPs question.
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Replies: 19 / Views: 7,036 |
Posted 05/29/2012 3:04 pm
