Answers for the Avid Collector
Do you have a question about
anything numismatic? Want to know what’s going on here at Stack’s Bowers
Galleries? If so, send your inquiries to AnswersfortheAvidCollector@StacksBowers.com and get a response to your important
questions from our team of experts!
Question: What is meant by a “die scratch”? What is a “die
striation”?
--K.H.
Answer:
A die scratch is evidenced by a raised line on a coin caused by a
recessed or incuse scratch on a die. This scratch could have been caused in any
number of ways, including by the stray impression of a file or of a graving
tool. Groups of minute parallel die scratches are called die striations or die striae and
were caused by trimming a die with a file during the die preparation process,
or grinding the surface of a die to remove ridges and burrs (such as after the
master die impressed the letters and devices).
While die striations can be seen
on many different issues, they are particularly obvious on Liberty Seated
silver coins of the 1860s (nearly all Mint State silver dollars have them) and
on Mercury dimes of the 1920s.
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