Dollar Coin Defects and Genearl Commerce Use
Arizona Coin Collector
I received some older dollar coins that appeared
to be in good condition on the front and back.
What I am now seeing is the edge lettering wearing
out mush faster. I have one 2008 Martin Van Buren
dollar coin with the edge lettering almost gone.
I also received a George Washington, and Andrew
Jackson dollar coins with the edge markings almost
gone.
If you receive a coin with the mint mark, year,
and motto is gone from wear, would the coin be
considered defective for general commerce use?
Would this coin be taken out of circulation?
One could make an older counterfeit dollar coin
and know one is the wiser thinking the coin is
just worn down from use.
The edge lettering of the James K. Polk dollar
coins I received new in the rolls have a clear
edge lettering. The lettering is not very deep in
the metal.
Mr. Jaggers
> Hello
>
> I received some older dollar coins that appeared
> to be in good condition on the front and back.
> What I am now seeing is the edge lettering wearing
> out mush faster. I have one 2008 Martin Van Buren
> dollar coin with the edge lettering almost gone.
>
> I also received a George Washington, and Andrew
> Jackson dollar coins with the edge markings almost
> gone.
There was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth about this in the
numismatic press when they first came out. Some coins were found with no
lettering at all on the edge, but that was because it had never been
applied. It sounds as if your coins suffer from weakness in the strike. I
can't inagine that they would bring any premium because of it.
> If you receive a coin with the mint mark, year,
> and motto is gone from wear, would the coin be
> considered defective for general commerce use?
> Would this coin be taken out of circulation?
Eh? They're minimally in circulation to start with, and what bank teller is
going to examine prexibux that cross his counter? These coins are almost
universally ho-hum. That said, I'm still collecting them, but I regularly
ask myself why.
> One could make an older counterfeit dollar coin
> and know one is the wiser thinking the coin is
> just worn down from use.
That trick is well over 200 years old. Designs for British coppers that
circulated in the colonies and during the Confederation period were copied
by English and American counterfeiters alike and struck to look VG/F at best
when they came out of the press. But prexibux? Hardly anyone uses them or
even knows what they are, so how much money stands to be made by faking
them?
> The edge lettering of the James K. Polk dollar
> coins I received new in the rolls have a clear
> edge lettering. The lettering is not very deep in
> the metal.
On purpose, you must understand. Greater effort = greater cost of
manufacture.
James the Mintmaster