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 Replies: 11 / Views: 7,076 |
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Valued Member
United States
295 Posts |
I shot these pictures today to document some differences between " Close AM" and " Wide AM" cents. Most of these details are well-known to collectors searching for the varieties, and many good shots exist, such as Coop's.  The last picture shows a few more subtle differences on the base of the Memorial and the designer initials. I also believe that the " Wide AM" reverse meant for proofs is higher relief, since it consistently shows deeper shadows in all my pictures. That's hard to quantify, but you may have noticed it too.
click to enlarge Edited by Thulium
03/05/2017 6:13 pm
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Rest in Peace
10197 Posts |
Thulium, good example for the noobies. I have indeed noticed on my examples of both the 1998 & 2000 they exhibit the higher/sharper relief and the rim is well defined as on proofs....on the inside reverse that is, planchet is still business strike material. If I can find it around here, I have a 2001D that I swear is a proof die used, either that or it was #0000000001 on that die! See if I can find it...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5964 Posts |
There are quite a few different ways to tell. As I have learned from Coop, the easiest way is to just check the spacing on both sides of the M. Also, the business strike is only struck once.
Edited by CoinMasters
03/05/2017 8:24 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1000 Posts |
Nice set up. Really useful for beginners to the hunt. [Devin, where are you? Save this one!  ] My question is, are those CAM and WAM reverses on a circulation or proof strike in your pictures? I can't much difference in the color that would indicate a mirror finish, but there's definitely a lot less noise in the fields of the coin on the right. I'm guessing circulation strike CAM, proof strike WAM? It might be helpful to know! I'll also have to dig out my CAM/WAM varieties -- maybe rim shape can be used as a diagnostic? (Or the squared off rim on proofs could be purely a function of the striking process, and not of the die used.) |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3644 Posts |
Yes the squared sharp rims on proofs are from the higher pressure along with multiple strikes.
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Valued Member
 United States
295 Posts |
Quote:My question is, are those CAM and WAM reverses on a circulation or proof strike in your pictures? In case it wasn't clear, those are pictures from both circulated Close AM and a Wide AM cent.  Below are pictures I did for proofs. As I mentioned in my top post, you can also see a difference of depth on the two types, the Wide AM designed for proof coins has more relief. I'm not sure about the different rims of the coins--it's something that I'll check.  Edited by Thulium
03/06/2017 01:50 am
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
12477 Posts |
I agree that both the business and proof strike WAMs show higher relief, especially on the proof. It's more evident on the proof because of multiple strikes. Edit: your first pic says " Wide AM Proof Reverse" so I guess that should be changed to "Business?" Even though it's a proof die, it's on a business strike coin. In Memory of Crazyb0 12-26-1951 to 7-27-2020
In Memory of Tootallious 3-31-1964 to 4-15-2020
In Memory of T-BOP 10-12-1949 to 1-19-2024
Edited by spru
03/06/2017 02:34 am
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Valued Member
United States
295 Posts |
Quote:your first pic says " Wide AM Proof Reverse" so I guess that should be changed to "Business? Myself, I think it's simpler to call it the proof reverse, because that's what it was made for. Of course, you could complicate the terminology by saying " Wide AM proof reverse used for business strikes", and probably confuse a few collectors.  Call Wide AM the proof reverse, and people should figure out the Close AM... |
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New Member
United States
45 Posts |
99.9% of the time I easily see the difference between wide and Close AM but this one is different. At first glance I saw Close AM but it looks different than other Close AM and I can't figure it out. Any thoughts?  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
It is a Close AM. You need to ignore whether of not the M is "close" to the A. A Close AM rev that has been polished thins the letters and increases the distance between the A and M. If you expect the Close AM to have A & M almost touching, one of these polished dies will confuse you. What you want to look for is if the M is EVENLY spaced between the A and E. A Close AM is NOTICEABLY close to the A, and a polished die WAM thins the letter on both side so it remains evenly spaced. If you look at your coin you can see the AM are apart but they are still MUCH closer than the separation between the M and E. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12477 Posts |
 It's definitely a Close AM and good advice. In Memory of Crazyb0 12-26-1951 to 7-27-2020
In Memory of Tootallious 3-31-1964 to 4-15-2020
In Memory of T-BOP 10-12-1949 to 1-19-2024
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New Member
United States
45 Posts |
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Replies: 11 / Views: 7,076 |
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Posted 03/05/2017 6:12 pm
