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The President's Corner
- July 2005 -


The Board Officers realize that many of you are frustrated with the slow email lists. We're pretty frustrated, too. Please be patient. We're working on a solution. Hopefully that solution won't entail changing servers again. But it might. If that should occur, we'll endeavor to make the move as painless and seamless, and as permanent as possible. If any member has a suggestion as to a good server host for our web site and opt-in email lists; please provide it to one of the Officers. The more possibilities we have to consider, the better chance that - should we have to move - we'll wind up with a good, more-permanent home. Thank you.


There seems to be a bit of confusion as a result of my article in last month's Newsletter wherein I touched on the impending elections for the WINS Board of Directors. My intent was to get potential candidates to consider running for the Board. Please consider doing so, or consider nominating another member. But please hold those nominations for now. An announcement will be made about the first of August detailing the nomination and election process. Then the actual balloting should take place in October, with new or re-elected Officers assuming office that same month. Here's hoping that we have another full slate of good candidates.


What are Clash Marks on coins?

They are raised marks on a coin's surface that appear a result of a miss-feed in the coin-striking chamber. Some varied anomaly causes a planchet to not get fed between the dies. As the striking mechanism continues its cycle, the dies come together without an intervening planchet, and they clash into one another with quite a force. This causes the two clashing dies to usually impart portions of their own design onto each other. When the next strike occurs, the planchet/struck coin then shows some unintended details. The obverse of the coin will show some faint mirrored images of the reverse, and vice versa.

At the right is a photo of a typical clashed-die mark on the reverse of a Morgan Dollar coin. The two photos on this page are courtesy of fellow WINS member Rob Evans. Thank you Rob!

The reverse clash depicted in the photo aligns directly with the back of Ms. Liberty's head on the obverse. This clash directly corresponds to the "V-shaped dip" about 3:30 on the obverse where the bottom of Ms. Liberty's cap meets her hair curls. Clash marks generally appear exactly opposite each other on opposing sides of the coin.

Image
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Image
Select to view a larger image.

Occasionally in that same position on the obverse, you will see evidence of the clashed dies in the form of leaves to the rear of Ms. Liberty's head in the field. The photo at the left depicts the corresponding obverse clash mark.

There are several different locations on both the obverse and reverse of a Morgan Dollar which are notorious for exhibiting varied clash marks, especially in the fields. These photos depict just one set of corresponding marks. And, no ... this isn't unique to Morgan Dollars. It has happened in the same fashion to every denomination of coin ever minted.

One of the more notorious clash marks on another denomination is the so-called "Lincoln in Jail" on the obverse of a Lincoln Memorial cent, wherein the clashed pillars of the Lincoln Memorial on the reverse appear to be superimposed over Lincoln's profile on the obverse giving the illusion of Lincoln behind bars. Another example is the so-called "Bearded Indian" on the obverse of the Indian Head/Buffalo nickel, wherein clashed elements from the reverse appear along the Indian's chin on the obverse giving the impression that the Indian is sporting a beard.

Clash marks always show as "raised" marks. They're never incuse. And they usually look pretty neat on any coin that has them. Clash marks can be anywhere from fairly faint to extremely strong depending firstly upon how strongly the two dies clashed; and secondly, on how old the clash marks are. Like other design elements, clash marks tend to fade with normal die wear.

After a clash, sometimes the dies are refurbished by Mint technicians. This entails polishing of the dies to eliminate the clash-mark details. Although polishing will virtually eliminate those details (or much of them), it sometimes imparts "polish marks" or raised striations that are particularly visible within the field of a coin. When you see these heavy, raised striations on a coin, especially if they appear in a typical clash-mark area for that coin, then it's a pretty fair bet that the die pair clashed and was polished by the Mint technician to remove the extraneous clash marks.

Another interesting phenomenon which sometimes occurs is the imparting of multiple or overlapping clash marks in the same area of the coin. This occurs by means of the same anomaly which causes what the hobby refers to as "rotated reverse" coins. It can happen when the upper/hammer die becomes loose and begins to rotate on its shaft a bit. If clashes of the dies continue to occur, then with each successive clash as the die continues to rotate a little, the clashes duplicate in a slightly different/rotated location.

If a Mint technician observes that the die has rotated slightly, he may shut down the coining press, return the die to its original orientation and tighten it down again. But if the clashing of the dies, and the rotation of one of the dies goes unnoticed, then successive strikes of those dies will cause multiple, sometimes overlapping, clash marks on the coins in a rotated-looking fashion.

A well-known example which comes to mind is the 1886 Morgan Dollar VAM # 1C which exhibits multiple, rotated images of the same clash mark shown in the above photo. On that VAM example, the upper clash mark is in about the same position as in the photo above. But there are also additional, uplicate clash marks in the field between the leaves and the eagle's wing in a successive, rotated pattern below the original clash mark. It's a very interesting coin to look at.

The next time you notice extra, raised design elements on a coin, take a closer look. Try to see if the marks seem to align with normal elements on the opposite side of the coin. You may very well be looking at clash marks. Some clash marks are pretty significant. And many collectors find clashed coins to be cherished portions of their collections.

Best Regards,

Ralph J. Huntzinger
WINS President




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