Specifications Of Classic US Coins - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 9 / Views: 1,570
MrWCF New Member United States 3 Posts	Posted 04/21/2008 4:47 pm Can anyone point me to a source that lists the thickness of all classic US coins? Report this Post to the Staff

biokemist6 Bedrock of the Community United States 12437 Posts	Posted 04/21/2008 5:03 pm Thickness isn't really a standard measurement, I'm not sure that I have seen thicknesses listed anywhere. Diameter and weight are the main references. Report this Post to the Staff
bobby131313 Forum Dad United States 24150 Posts	Posted 04/21/2008 6:39 pm http://www.coincommunity.com/coin_facts/ Shop CCF Members on eBay. Report this Post to the Staff
MrWCF New Member United States 3 Posts	Posted 04/21/2008 6:52 pm That's an interesting site, but unfortunately, I don't believe that it lists thicknesses. Report this Post to the Staff
Bilbo Pillar of the Community United States 812 Posts	Posted 04/21/2008 8:07 pm I sure can't find any info, other than these specs for modern coins. http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_min...ecifications I suspect that the only time the thickness was exact was when the coin was an unstruck planchet. After that, the thickness would depend on where you measured on the coin and the circumstances affecting the actual strike. Report this Post to the Staff
silverdollardude New Member United States 8 Posts	Posted 04/21/2008 8:38 pm I have seen coins, specifically Walking Liberty halves, that were unbelievably thick Report this Post to the Staff
MrWCF New Member United States 3 Posts	Posted 04/21/2008 11:00 pm What I am hypothesizing is that if the mint has standards of thickness for current coins (they do), then it is likely that they had standards of thickness for classic coins. They may not have had rigorous quality controls in the past, but they certainly would have had targets that they aimed for. Perhaps another way of asking the question is what were the thickness targets for classic U.S. coins? Report this Post to the Staff
Conder101 Bedrock of the Community United States 17884 Posts	Posted 04/22/2008 8:47 pm You would be surprised at how exacting the specs and tolerances were for the older coins. Much stricter than todays standards. Unfortunately you still can't set standards for the thickness of the finished coin very well because it will vary depending on where you measure the coin, and the force of the coining strike. It will also vary depending on what percentage of the coin is devices and what percentage is field. The only time when you can truly specify the thickness is for the type 1 blanks before the edges are upset. I don't know anyplace online you can get the mint specs. I get them from a copy of the Coin World Almanac. It give specs for weight and diameter. Weight in both grams and grains, diameter in mm, and it gives the Weight Tolerances as well in both grams and grains. And it gives these for all US coins. Report this Post to the Staff
Peter THOMAS Pillar of the Community Australia 2830 Posts	Posted 04/22/2008 10:08 pm G'day, I've just looked at five catalogues that were handy, none American - Renniks, Macca's, Gadoury, Seaby - and none give thickness. All specify weight. All but one gives diameter. Thickness is just not a standard that we use. Back to your problem: my initial suspicion is that these items described as "unbelievably thick" are fakes, that utilize thick planchets to get the weight correct. If you look at Spanish Dollars, French Ecu, or British Crowns, they are all about 37mm and 28 grams, or so. But the forgeries are typically 20g, or less, even though diameter and outward appearance are OK. Even lead, or tin, which don't "look" right, are significantly less dense than silver. So forgers are left with either an underweight "coin", or perhaps an overly thick one. Peter in Oz Report this Post to the Staff
afernbaugh Valued Member United States 263 Posts	Posted 04/23/2008 02:35 am It would seem that thickness is a "floating variable" in a struck coin and is the result of many variables in the equation. The density, diameter, the device details plus the force of the strike (just to name the obvious) would result in a variable thickness of the coin in question. From a math standpoint it would seem difficult to have more constraints than variables in any given equation. IMHO of course.... afernbaugh Report this Post to the Staff
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