Do people like die polish lines?

[Danye West]

What do you all think: do die polish lines make a coin more aesthetically pleasing?

I don't like them

[AHFreak]

Interesting question because for me it can go either way. I have seen die polish lines on coins and just cringed, and thought wow that is horrible. Then I have seen die polish lines on coins and it seemed like they just added character on top of an already gorgeous coin.

 

[Tyler N.]

I really like them, and I'm having a tough time thinking of an instance where I thought they were ugly... Oh yeah! When I bought a raw, proof Seated quarter from Great Southern Coins and they tried to pass off a harsh cleaning as die polish lines.

[michael]

it all depends usually i dont like them as it makes for ugly eye appeal but once in a great while

 

depending on the coin, era, grade, eye appeal and desirability can make the coin greater with die polish than not

 

it all depends

 

in general for a morgan dollar it hurts the value and eye appeal

 

for a gem prooflike pillar 8 reales

it could greatly help especially so if it turns out it to be a

royal coin or proof

[Mozin]

I don't like die polish lines, but some varieties only come with die lines.

[cpm9ball]

What I dislike more than anything is attributing "squiggles" as a VAM.

 

Chris

[PerryHall]

A lot of good answers that I mostly agree with. Die polish usually doesn't bother me but sometimes it can be so heavy as to distract from the coin. Don't forget that die polish patterns are like finger prints and can be used to identify a specific die. If two coins have identical die polish, you can be sure both coins came from the same die.

[BillJones]

Die polish marks usually don't bother me. They are something is just part of the minting process.

 

BUT here is an instance where I HATE them. This is the Ultra High Relief I received from the mint ... Unfortunately I've had this happen to me too many times when I have bought from the mint directly.

 

[Raisethis2]

Given that with die polish lines you usually get a nice strike I find them rather pleasing. I've yet to own a coin where they were so out of place I didn't care for them.

[messydesk]

Depends on the coin. I'm generally neutral toward them, although I'd rather not see them on proofs. Harsh patches of die polishing lines on silver dollars strike me as pretty cool, as they have a story to tell of unusual abuse of the die by the mint, perhaps an attempt to get rid of a crack or a clash mark. Whoever prepped these dies in Philadelphia likely got his backside chewed out for messing them up like this.

 

1903 VAM 1A

[coinsbygary]

For the most part I love die polish lines. However, I have this Jeckyl and Hyde Lincoln Cent with attractive polish lines on the obverse and down right ugly lines on the reverse. Actually, the reverse looks as if someone took a brillo pad to it! Overall, I keep the coin because it's kind of cool to me. It almost seems like a case study to me.

 

 

 

Gary

BTW, this coin is graded PCGS MS-65 RD

[RWB]

Good examples, although the lines were not made with a file, as the VAM listing states.

 

As John mentioned, abrasion of the die indicates some sort of repair work - or an attempt to repair. Sometimes it is possible to locate several dies showing a sequence of attempted repairs to specific damage. There is a 1921 Peace dollar with very strong rev clash marks the is known in at least three stages of repair.

[messydesk]

Not sure why Leroy started using the term "file marks". Could be he's using the term "file" as a general term describing the appearance and not referring to the device used. He's probably also using it to separate the intended effect of polishing, which he may liken more to buffing out the defect as one would on a car (Leroy once had a 1925 Maxwell that he restored, among others) from the result seen, which looks like a rather crude grinding in some cases.

 

At any rate, progressions of these are also quite interesting. The 1921-S VAM 1B die pair went through several cycles of being damaged and then being polished. Recently, an earlier die marriage with the same obverse die added a clashing event (VAM 15E) followed by a polishing event (with reverse swapped to become VAM 1B). Clearly, that obverse die was cursed, but it left us with 12 distinct die stages to follow.

[Catbert]

It depends. I like it on this piece:

 

 

But wouldn't like it on this piece:

 

 

[wdrob]

Love to see the die polish lines on lincolns. Other coins too, but not as much as on lincolns.

 

Gary that 1959-D is a good example. I find the lines on the reverse to be very appealing just as they are on the obverse.

 

 

[jom]

I find them distracting most of the time. One of the reasons "proof like" coins don't attract me all that much is because many of them have die polishing. At the very least I don't find them any worse than, say, adjustment marks on an old half or whatever. In fact, because of the way the mint did things way back when I find adjustment marks more interesting although they distract in a similar way. To each their own I guess.

 

jom

[PerryHall]

This thread reminds me of other threads discussing copper spots on gold coins and toning on coins---some people like them while others don't like them.