the LIFE of a DIE

[EZ_E]

The US Mint is currently experimenting with various die coatings which could effectively double the die's life. This is noteworthy considering the fact that the US Mint uses tens of thousands of dies. The life of a proof die is but a small fraction of their business strike cousins.

 

Currently, the proof clad and proof silver state quarter dies have averaged a mere 1200 strikes per die. Contrast this to the circulation strikes and one would note an approximate two hundred to one ratio with c. 240,000 business strikes per die.

 

The Lincoln cent die may last up to one million business strikes before it fails, while the five-cent piece and dime lasts an average of 500,00 strikes.

 

condensed from an 8/25/03 article in Coin World.

[Hoot]

Interesting info Victor. I find it distressing that the devices are so shallow that the Mint can actually get 250,000 to 1,000,000 coins out of a single die! It's why you see so many poorly minted coins and straight-off-the-press problem coins out there!

 

Hoot

[TomB]

I'm certain if it makes the coins look worse, on average, then the US Mint will do it enthusiastically.

[EVillageProwler]

This is noteworthy considering the fact that the US Mint uses tens of thousands of dies per denomination.

 

I did some checking of your math, it doesn't work out properly.

 

In 1996, between P and D, the Mint used about 7,000 dies for the nickels. (I'm going by your estimate of 240K/die.) I chose nickel because it is a small, yet hard metal planchet. I would not want to use the Lincoln 1C as an example because that is a small and soft planchet.

 

EVP

 

[EZ_E]

EVP,

 

The article just mentioned that the Mint uses tens of thousands of dies. I added per denomination which may be an error on my part. Perhaps that's why you had to convolute the math to get the figures to work.