Franklin Key Dates

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Has this phenomenon of progressive wear of master dies been recognized and documented in other coin series besides Franklins, such as Lincoln cents and buffalo nickels, for which some dates invariably seem to suffer from weak definition? Is it even pertinent to current modern coins such as American silver eagles?

 

 

On a slightly different note, the master die that was created in 1948 got progressively more worn down until a new one was cut in 1960. The end result of this wear is that you will lose more and more detail on a well struck coin from 1948 until 1959. Note for example the 3 strands of hair by Ben's ear in 1948 in essence turning to one clump by the latter 1950's.