Some are good. Some aren't. Those tiny bumps, dents, dings, and scratches are all part of a coin's natural life in circulation. Or are they? In this installment we will touch on the variety of Marks commonly found on coins. Die cracks and die polishing. Some coins are destined to have marks even before they [...]
In this installment in our series of coin anatomy, we will discuss Alloy and Strike. A coin starts its life in a vat of molten metal. Since gold and silver in particular are very soft metals, and wouldn't last long in circulation in their pure form, other metals are added to strengthen the mixture. This [...]
Heads or tails, the anatomy of The Faces of a coin are essentially the same. Before we get into the details, let's first take a look at the journey the image takes getting from the artist's mind to the face of the coin. Whether it's a star, a face, or an eagle, each individual image [...]
