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 Replies: 10 / Views: 1,663 |
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Rest in Peace
United States
1943 Posts |
I have been thinking about when does a coin become an error coin lately and thought I would post the question here for every one's input. This started because I have read posts in the past that show a coin with one side slightly uncentered and the other side nicely centered. The responses will say this is a misaligned die error but it does not have extra value unless design elements are missing. They sometimes continue to say slight uncentering is very common and is an acceptable standard strike. My question is if these are common and are actually an acceptable strike then are they really an error and are they really misaligned. Nothing is perfect and everything has a tolerance to it. So if the tolerance for the centering of the dies to each other is actually acceptable until a design element is missing then when 2 dies aren't perfectly centered but all design elements are there is it accurate to say they are misaligned. The reason for my questioning is it seems to me by being loose with terms we create confusion with beginners or even worse, we give power to sellers on places like ebay to describe a coin with the misaligned error term to try to sell it when it is actually a common standard strike. But their stance will be that the description is correct. What do all of you think about this? Is the term misaligned correct when 2 dies are slightly uncentered but still within tolerance? Is it the use of the word error with a slight uncentering misleading? What are your thoughts? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1359 Posts |
Uncentered is when BOTH side are off-centered.
Mis-Aligned is when 1 side ,usually the Obverse, is off while the reverse stay centered.
If its slightly either way, someone should be able to tell.
If its one side then is Mis-Aligned.
Both sides off in the same direction then its Off-Centered
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Rest in Peace
 United States
1943 Posts |
Kloccwork, Thanks for pointing out my mistake. By uncentered I meant one die being uncentered to the other die so the 2 dies are slightly uncentered to each other. I could have worded this better. The question is if design elements are not missing on either side of the coin but one side of the coin is struck slightly off center then is this still a misaligned die and is it an error?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1359 Posts |
Not unless some of the design is missing they most likely dont consider it an error. Just like with rotation, if its under 15 degrees its not an error but more less room for error
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Rest in Peace
United States
1943 Posts |
Should it still be called a misaligned stike?
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
62064 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3507 Posts |
I am just going to add. The label of misaligned die applies no matter how slight the misalignment is. The question is, Is a misaligned die strike an error.
Keep in mind that the misalignment is a one sided affair:-) Only one side of the coin should appear off, while the other side, usually the reverse is centered.
A fine line....and it is easily described. A misaligned die strike that is within specs, (details are there) is still a misaligned die strike but not an error.
If the die is so misaligned as to produce a coin with details missing it is still a misaligned die strike but this crosses over into the error coin realm since missing detail on the coin is not acceptable.
So the term misaligned die is accurate for either coin described above while a coin of this type that is an error has to have detail missing. Some will go so far as to say that 15% of the detail has to be effected for a misaligned die strike to be an error.
The terminology is really quite precise but is misused by sellers on auction sites all the time.
Should that be a surprise:-) ?
Thanks,
Bill
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7629 Posts |
'uncentered' is not an acceptable numismatic term. It is 'off-center'.
There are tolerances to most different classifications of errors that depend on a degree of something before being considered collectible as such...
A weak strike is just that - a weak strike. But an excessively weak strike is usually deemed a 'set-up strike' or a 'die trial strike' and barely shows any detail.
A clip is a clip and is collectible to most if any of the devices are affected, but some people collect clips that don't affect anything but the rim. These are called 'rim clips'.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Quote:
'uncentered' is not an acceptable numismatic term. What about a uncentered broadstrike? That would be a coin struck without the collar in place (Broadstruck) but the planchet isn't centered between the dies (centered broadstrike). But the planchet isn't far enough to one side for any of the design to be missing so it isn't an off-center strike either. Uncentered broadstrike fits such a coin. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3507 Posts |
I hope I explain this right. A centered broadstrike is a coin struck out of the collar and one that is essentially centered with respect to the strike.
If the details are still on the coin, it is a centered broadstrike although it may not be dead on center. It is probably better called a broadstrike without the word centered attached other than as a descriptive term if the coin is struck dead center without a collar in place.
A coin struck off center is by nature struck out of the collar so it is an off center strike. Uncentered broadstrike seems to be a term that gets used but doesn't really mean anything other than a coin that is struck off-centered.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7629 Posts |
I think that's splitting hairs.
I was responding to a post that noted an 'uncentered' strike. The correct term is 'off-center' strike.
I'm sure there are many areas where one word is not appropriate but two words would be acceptable, yet define something completely different.
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Replies: 10 / Views: 1,663 |
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Posted 05/03/2009 10:31 pm
