Designations

[sanmary]

I agree that enough is enough already. As previously stated, Gem Mint State coins are SUPPOSED to be fully-struck to merit the grade.

[cladking]

Some coins are extremely rare or virtually non-existent fully struck. This makes it impossible for many collectors to afford or find such coins and the designation simply makes well struck coins available to more people. It makes sets available with all the coins possessing a designation if not all fully struck.

[Oldtrader3]

All I know is, that everytime we start this "new variety" bandwagon on a series, I lose beaucoup bucks. Here we go again, I will now have send in all 48 of my Roosies (plus a whole box of my seconds) for the new designation or have my collection value plummet! Fortunately, I guess, a majority of my Roosies are fully struck and graded MS67. These will probably warrant the new attribution anyhow, hopefully.

I have not inspected every coin yet, so I am not sure of this. I did conduct a quick survey look though.

 

The moral to this story is what I already know to be true: sell all of my modern sets (dimes, halves and dollars) and stick to my knitting on collecting gold, classic dimes and trimes. Then all this grief disappears. When will I learn!

 

 

[gmarguli]

How about Full Shield Lines for Shield Nickels and Full Rounded Knee for St. Gaudens?

[Beijim]

Yes, and let's not forget Full Charter Oak Leaves (FCOL) and Full Guitar (FG) for the Connecticut and Tennessee state quarters, respectively.

 

I believe I'm in agreement with those who've posted that a single designation, Full Strike, should suffice for all current specializations. The proliferation of localized full strike designations, where the designation covers maybe 10% max of the coin's entire surface (obverse + reverse), just seems silly. I would think the phrase "Full Strike" would, by definition, mean that all features are struck as the designer intended and the die creator executed. Barring a flaw in the die itself, wouldn't a fully struck coin by definition have all features fully distringuished and as represented on the die?

 

Therefore, if you want to get into real specialization, the "Full Strike" designation would be much harder to achieve (since the entire coin would have to exhibit full detail) and therefore more rare and therefore more compelling in the market than any of the current bevy of localized designations.

 

Beijim

 

[Oldtrader3]

Don't even go there! If that happens with a slab designation, I will find another hobby! I just need to stick to my knitting and stay AWAY from moderns, forever!

[gmarguli]

How about full steps for Lincoln Memorial cents? Even the modern "fully struck" ones don't come with full steps. Also finding one without marks on the steps would be a major challange. Many of the earlier ones have awful strikes.

[Hoot]

Funny you mention it Greg, as I was just plugging an album hole with a 1979-S T2 L. cent earlier today - no steps! The strike was so weak (on a proof!!!) that the ear of Lincoln was not clearly defined.

 

Hoot

[RMontgomery]

I just wanted to come on here again and thank everyone for their thoughts and ideas regarding this subject. I also wanted to make it clear that one option is of course to leave things as they presently are and not go down this road. We are constantly trying to respond to what the market desires, but in this case trying to anticipate what the future of strike designations might be for collectors. With the response from all of you, it helps to give us a clearer picture of what you want as collectors.

 

Thank you again, and any further thoughts, please don't hesitate to place them here or privately to me.

 

Rick