A Nice Raw 1942 Proof Cent 1 1

[FlyingAl]

I recently picked up this raw 1942 cent, and I was super pleased with it when I got it in hand. It has some very noticeable obverse and reverse contrast, likely enough to warrant a CAM designation. Coins like this don't pop up much, and they rarely appear raw. The left obverse hit is unfortunate, and will likely drop the grade a point or two., but it has some really nice original color that I'm a fan of. It's an overall pleasing coin!

CAM proofs like this one were struck from two new dies. Both dies must not have been polished to the point of removing the satin frost layer that is natural from die production. This was a delicate operation, and the die technicians often failed at it in the 36-42 era. There were multiple instances of brand new dies having to be condemned before they struck a single coin because they were polished way too much, degrading the detail to the point where the die was useless. 1942 was the best year as the techs got really good at polishing, but very few dual sided contrasted coins remain. 

The coin: 

 

[Henri Charriere]

Greetings Al!

I know this aspect has been addressed before elsewhere, but would you mind specifying the tool used to effect "polishing"?  I assume a wire brush is out of the question, but what exactly are we talking about here, a camel's hair brush? 

[FlyingAl]

On 12/21/2022 at 7:57 PM, Quintus Arrius said:

Greetings Al!

I know this aspect has been addressed before elsewhere, but would you mind specifying the tool used to effect "polishing"?  I assume a wire brush is out of the question, but what exactly are we talking about here, a camel's hair brush? 

The information out there is minimal. From what I can gather, it appears that regular circulation dies were taken after a quick deburring with a lap by the die sinker and given a polish with a very fine abrasive with another lap. This was done by taking the die and affixing it to a rotating spindle and attaching the lap to the non rotating spindle. The lap would be pressed into the die until contact was made and the die was rotated until the desired amount of polishing was done. This extra step of using a fine abrasive would produce a fine mirror surface, and though it is possible that some proof dies were polished by hand, but this would be extremely time consuming and therefore unlikely. 

@RWB, feel free to add more or correct me if I missed something here. I know there's some fine details I've left out, but I wanted to give just a general overview. 

[RWB]

Almost every possible way of polishing proof dies was tried. I'm not sure that any one method was adopted as "standard." More like what worked best for an assistant or diesinker.

[Henri Charriere]

I tried to explain the principle to my wife in English and all she could say was, ("Wee, bree-YO, byen soor!") or "Yes, Brillo,™️ of course!"  Her lovely smile deterred me from trying to pursue the matter further.  

[Hoghead515]

Do they still use emery wheels to polish dies. Of not when did they stop using them. 

[RWB]

Polishing is done today with a cerium oxide lap matching the die radius. I've forgotten whether the die is polished first then laser etched for fake-frost, or if it's the other way around. The older way always involved polishing first, with re-dipping when relief frost faded. A frisket (relief mask) was also used for some years in the 70s-90s to protect the fields. These were hand cut, and a real time consuming task that (I recall) the engravers complaining about.

[Coinbuf]

Looks like a very fine example, the obv hit is unfortunate but still a nice find and addition.