1981-S clear type 2

[David Silverman]

Could anyone with knowledge tell me when the new type 2 die (clear s) was introduced into the 1981-S u.s.mint proof set. I think it was mid year but I do not know the date.

 

Thank you

[David Silverman]

ANYONE?

 

There must be a numismatist in the group.

[bsshog40]

This might be a good question for Mr. Lange. He may chime in at some point. I have one of his books on modern proofs, at home, I can check that when I get home if this hasn't been answered yet.

[Conder101]

I don't think you can really answer a question like this because the dies had the mintmarks punched in by hand. The same punch being used on all dies. At some point the punch either broke or was retired and the new punch introduced. Dies for each denomination were done in groups so soon you would have a group of dies for each denomination that were mixed, some with the old punch and some with the new. After polishing they would arrive a San Francisco and be added to the stock of dies on hand.

 

Now the dies are not always used strictly in the order in which they are received. So for awhile sometimes a die could be replaced with an old punch die and sometimes with a new punch die. The dies for the different coins are also not replaced at the same time. So proof sets during the transition period would come with a mixture of Type I and Type II coins. This means there really isn't a date we can point to and say "They changed from Type I to Type II here." If we knew what day they changed the punch at the mint we could use that, but as far as I know the Mint didn't bother to keep track of that.

[thebeav]

There must be a numismatist in the group.

 

This will get you some honest and forthright replies.

 

You're just kidding, right?

[David Silverman]

Thanks for posting.....although I am not sure how to take thebeav's comments?

 

Thank you

[noow]

although I am not sure how to take thebeav's comments?

The post sounded rude at first, but it was just a misunderstanding. Most everyone here is a numismatist, so making a comment like that sounds like an insult (though not really).

 

thebeav: I think he is referring to a professional numismatist.

[David Silverman]

thebeav: I think he is referring to a professional numismatist.

 

Yes noow, I WAS referring to a professional numismatist.

 

Thank you all anyway.

 

-David from Boston.

[Frank Provasek]

Could anyone with knowledge tell me when the new type 2 die (clear s) was introduced into the 1981-S u.s.mint proof set. I think it was mid year but I do not know the date.

 

Thank you

 

Can't really be answered, as no records would have been kept on when a new punch was used, or the order that the finished proof dies were used. Nor can mintages be determined as anything but a guess. The Type 2 is overcounted in the pop reports because they are sent it because they are valuable and the Type 1s generally are not worth sending in. Likely that many of the Type 1 proofs in slabs were sent it thinking in error that they were type 2s.