Rotated Dies On A Proof Coin (1937 Buffalo Nickel)?

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Author	Replies: 7 / Views: 2,024
barryg Pillar of the Community United States 5821 Posts	Posted 02/15/2016 2:52 pm My latest acquisition for my U.S. Proof Type Set is this nice 1937 Proof Buffalo nickel that I just bought from David Lawrence Rare Coins (with whom I've done business in the past): The reverse is clearly rotated about 20 degrees, and I was surprised that David's listing didn't mention this fact anywhere. As I did some more research, however, I discovered that many (if not most) of the 5000+ proof Buffalo nickels struck in 1937 have the exact same rotated die. Which, of course, leads me to wonder what the heck happened? I've always understood that proofs were made specifically for collectors with specially prepared dies and that they were usually struck multiple times with extra care to ensure the best possible strike. How on earth did somebody not notice that the reverse die was rotated? And how did so many of these make it out the door after they were minted? Did somebody get fired over this? Or is it really just not as big a deal as I'm making it out to be? Expanded Digital U.S. Type Set Album \| Dansco 8100 (Lincon Cents) Album \| Digital Proof Type Set \| Digital U.S. Currency Type Set \| Foreign Bullion Coins Report this Post to the Staff

Tryna Pillar of the Community United States 937 Posts	Posted 02/15/2016 4:11 pm The first thing to remember is that a mint is little more than a machine shop. Not everyone who works there is living their childhood dream, they are just working their job to collect their pay. Sooo.... It is Monday morning die operator second class Joe Schmo Comes to work with a hangover from the night out with the boys. His breakfast was cold coffee, burnt toast and two over easy eggs with broken yolks that his angry wife slammed down on the table in front of him as she griped and complained at him for staying out until 2 am last night. His ten year old Ford hates to start on cold mornings and the battery wore down before it could convince the engine to run, so Joe had to hand crank the engine to life costing him an extra ten minutes this morning that he could not spare. On the way to work an accident between a horse drawn Tinker's wagon and a coal delivery truck snarled traffic costing him an extra seven minutes of travel time. As he cleared the scene the sight of the poor nag lying in the road made his unsavory breakfast become even more unsavory unsettling his stomach. He gets to work and his supervisor gives him a five minute tongue lashing for punching in seven minutes late. When the supervisor is done berating him he then tells Joe that Mark called in sick so Joe will have to strike and inspect the proof nickels and have them into the distribution dept. before 3 all on his own. Sometimes 'extra care' has less meaning in the world of production than we wish. Report this Post to the Staff
CrusaderVW Valued Member United States 109 Posts	Posted 02/15/2016 5:56 pm Plus, the Buffalo nickel is one of the most error ridden coins in the US, it's not unexpected for them to have a rotated die. Report this Post to the Staff
barryg Pillar of the Community United States 5821 Posts	Posted 02/15/2016 6:44 pm Quote: the Buffalo nickel is one of the most error ridden coins in the US Seriously? I had no idea. Are there any theories to explain what that is the case? Expanded Digital U.S. Type Set Album \| Dansco 8100 (Lincon Cents) Album \| Digital Proof Type Set \| Digital U.S. Currency Type Set \| Foreign Bullion Coins Report this Post to the Staff
moxking Rest in Peace United States 17900 Posts	Posted 02/15/2016 7:46 pm It's a beautiful proof. I knew Buffalos in general were prone to rotated dies for many of the years, but I didn't know it was true for the proofs, too. Thanks for given mez da learnin. Report this Post to the Staff
CoinHuntingDrew Pillar of the Community United States 4932 Posts	Posted 02/15/2016 9:17 pm I'm surprised no one said anything about the story above written by Tryna. I'm literally bawling my eyes out laughing. Report this Post to the Staff
barryg Pillar of the Community United States 5821 Posts	Posted 02/15/2016 9:58 pm Well, I was wondering how Tryna got so much detailed information about what happened... Expanded Digital U.S. Type Set Album \| Dansco 8100 (Lincon Cents) Album \| Digital Proof Type Set \| Digital U.S. Currency Type Set \| Foreign Bullion Coins Report this Post to the Staff
Tryna Pillar of the Community United States 937 Posts	Posted 02/16/2016 12:06 pm Sooner or later we all have a day like this. Report this Post to the Staff
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