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 Replies: 13 / Views: 10,843 |
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New Member
Ireland
3 Posts |
found 2 coins this morn at home where the sides are upside down, is this usual? one is a 1964 Kennedy half dollarthe other is a 1944 quarter also found what seems to be a french 1f 1970 coin, again, the sides are upside down |
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Moderator
 United States
34393 Posts |
@JC, first welcome to CCF. Second, for a discussion of medal alignment vs. coin alignment, this prior CCF thread should be of interest, especially with regard to your US coins: http://goccf.com/t/159456"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
 On US coins when you turn them over top to bottom, they stay OK. If you turn them over side to side, they are upside down. Some countries coins are just the opposite. Best thing to do so as to not get confused is to not turn the coins over.  Edited by just carl
03/12/2019 08:11 am
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New Member
 Ireland
3 Posts |
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Moderator
United States
187560 Posts |
to the Community! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3207 Posts |
Upside down printed coins are common. We see them all the time in photos posted here. ;-)
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5765 Posts |
U.S. coins aren't upside down.
It depends on which way the person flips the coin over that might produce that illusion. If you flip it top to bottom the reverse will be oriented properly for viewing.
If you flip it side to side, not so much!
Words of encouragement are one of the major food groups.
We need to consume them regularly to thrive and grow.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1494 Posts |
to CCF, JimComic! |
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Moderator
Australia
16806 Posts |
Back in the 1700s, it was normal worldwide for coins to be struck "upside-down"; that is why what you (and I) call "upside down" is technically known as "coin alignment". When the two sides of a coin are both "right-way-up" is called "medal alignment". Coins were originally made this way because of the way early screw-type, rocker and roller coin presses were assembled. The lower die was inserted into the press facing "right way around" from the point of view of the person inserting the die. The upper die was also inserted into the press "right way around" from the same point of view, but because the upper die is inserted into the press upside-down, the resultant coin becomes "coin-aligned". Thusly:  For coins, it doesn't really matter, since nobody (except coin collectors) really has to flip a coin back and forth between the two sides. But medals, designed to be hung on a ribbon or mount, need to be "right way up" both sides when flipped on that mount. The rest of the world gradually changed their coins from coin alignment to medal alignment during the 1800s. America and France were two notable holdouts. Now that France uses the euro (which is universally medal-aligned), America is just about the only country to still make coins using the old coin alignment. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
And here I used to stand on my head to see which way a coin was up or down.  |
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Moderator
United States
187560 Posts |
Quote:
America is just about the only country to still make coins using the old coin alignment. We will probably go metric before giving up coin alignment.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4233 Posts |
Thailand still does coin alignment.
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New Member
Ireland
3 Posts |
thanks y'all
very informative, never noticed u.s. coins being that way before, learn something every day :)
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Moderator
United States
14463 Posts |
Coin Orientation: US  Medal Orientation: UK  |
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Replies: 13 / Views: 10,843 |
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Posted 03/12/2019 06:24 am
