Why Is This Half Dollar... - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 7 / Views: 1,494
Justinokay Pillar of the Community United States 564 Posts	Posted 04/04/2017 11:35 pm Why is the half dollar on the right having a higher relief than the left? * Edited by Staff to crop images. Please crop images before uploading. If you do not have software to do this you can use the free image optimizer. * Report this Post to the Staff

thedollarman Pillar of the Community Canada 4911 Posts	Posted 04/04/2017 11:39 pm as the hub they use to make the dies gets used more, it slowly wears down, therefor the design needs to be redefined, this results in a lower relief as the design is worked over again and again..the same can be noted easily on your cent, nickel quarter if you compare say a 1932 Washington to a 1999. Feel free to call me Will. Report this Post to the Staff
Druu Pillar of the Community United States 1000 Posts	Posted 04/05/2017 12:30 am Unless you have the pictures upside down, right appears to have a lower relief than the right. Over the years, the obverse and reverse designs were changed slightly (intentionally). This does not have to do with wear on the master hub or die. You'll see this change in other denominations as well. Report this Post to the Staff
John1 Moderator United States 56855 Posts	Posted 04/05/2017 04:38 am When comparing coins, you need to use the same dates,mint marks and conditions. Apples to apples not apples to oranges. John1 Report this Post to the Staff
T-BOP Rest in Peace United States 18456 Posts	Posted 04/05/2017 07:52 am With John . And I also believe you have the two Halves backwards . Report this Post to the Staff
Oldephriam Valued Member United States 424 Posts	Posted 04/05/2017 08:26 am Over the years the Mint has developed methods to expand production without expanding facilities. One of the most notable ways of doing this is to produce low relief coins. The Mint produces billions of coins each year and must be ultra efficient in doing this, it helps to keep expenses down. The high relief coin you have is from 1971 when production numbers and expenses were lower. The low relief coin is from 2000, higher demand and higher expenses. With the low relief and high speed presses the mint can produce six one cent coins per second on each press. It is amazing to watch so if you get a chance to tour a Mint Do Not pass it up. During the tour they explain the how, why and when of the low relief coins. Report this Post to the Staff
Conder101 Bedrock of the Community United States 17884 Posts	Posted 04/05/2017 10:46 am Relief was lowered deliberately in order to allow for longer die life and higher production speeds. When the 1971 half was struck they were using a vertical striking press that ran around 100 strikes per minute or 5 coins every three seconds. Today they use a horizontal strike Schuler press that runs at 750 strikes per minute. That's about 12 coins per second or one coin every 8/100th of a second, Now coinage metal, being a somewhat plastic solid, will flow under pressure but it takes time for it to flow. And it it can't flow very far in .02 seconds (The total cycle time for the press per coin is .08 seconds but the actual striking portion of that is about .02 seconds) so the relief has to be a lot lower than back when it had .42 seconds. Report this Post to the Staff
jbuck Moderator United States 187702 Posts	Posted 04/05/2017 12:25 pm Oldephriam and Conder101 are correct. Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
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