Very Weak Dies/Strikes Before '90s (Quarters, Half Dollars ...)?

[astrostu]

My question concerns the observation that the obverse of Washington quarters made prior to 1999 seems to have a much weaker design than the modern Statehood version of Washington's head, particularly his hair. I realize that the entire coin was re-designed for the Statehood series, but this observation of weak/strong elements is also highly visible on half dollars. Since my Kennedy halves collection isn't complete, I'm not sure where exactly the shift took place, but it seems as if proof Kennedy coins (in particular) struck in the '70s and '80s have much much less hair detail than ones struck in the last decade or so.

 

Am I just seeing really bad examples of the latter half of the twentieth century, or was there some effort by the Mint in the '90s to enhance the hair in Kennedys, and then do the same for the Statehood quarters?

[MunkyMan95]

Take a 1964 Kennedy in MS and a 2006 Kennedy in MS. Look at the hair. BIG Difference.

[astrostu]

Take a 1964 Kennedy in MS and a 2006 Kennedy in MS. Look at the hair. BIG Difference.

 

Exactly. So what happened?

[MunkyMan95]

The mint alters the designs without public notification from time to time. I rather like the new Kennedys.

[cladking]

Frequent modification of designs has become the norm over the last few decades. There are minor changes to both obverse and reverse in most years. There are several mules. Many of these changes have involved a lowering of the relief resulting in more well struck pieces each year.

 

Washington's hair acquired much of its new detail in 1996 which was the same year that the concavity of the coin was reversed.

[physics-fan3.14]

Every so often the mint reworks the dies. If you get a book about the series (There aren't too many about these modern coins like Kennedy and Washington, but..) they generally list when the die changes take place. For example, in the Franklin series the die was reworked in 1960. If you look at a 1959 franklin and a 1960 franklin, you can see a big difference. The same applies with the Kennedy half dollar. I can't tell you the date or what they changed, but that is what happened.

[coinman1794]

Designs have been drastically modified on a number of occasions. But even more of a problem is the terrible strike quality of business strikes in the 70's and 80's. Worn dies were over-used and the coins look flat and rough.

[astrostu]

Weird. Okay, thanks.