Double dime revisited

[shirohniichan]

I looked over the 20 cent piece below for a long time. Previously I thought it was a VF coin struck with a mushy center, but now I'm thinking it may be a circulated proof. It has a wire rim and decent detail left in some of the starts on the obverse and the serifs on the reverse.

 

 

I don't own a proof 20 cent piece to use as a comparison. Do those of you with experience with proof double dimes think this may be a circulated proof (perhaps PF-15 or so)?

[BillJones]

The "LIBERTY" on the shield of the twenty cent piece is different from all other seated liberty coins. The letters are raised, which means that they wore off the coin far more quickly and easily. Therefore a true Fine with show perhaps 4 letters. The word should be readable on a VF unless it is weakly struck. The only issue that I have seen with a large number of poorly struck shields (and the corrisponding right wing of the eagle on the reverse) is the 1875-CC

 

I'd grade this coin VG-8, and I don't think that it is a former Proof. Given the wear it would be hard to tell unless it shows a dianostic of a Proof die variety.

[gmarguli]

The details don't look crisp enough to be a proof. The edges of the stars look mushy.

[TomB]

It's truly impossible for me to tell, however, that won't stop me from writing an opinion! It looks like stars 8-13 were not struck so that the centers were split, also, the dentils near seven o'clock look weak. I would doubt that these characteristics would be on a proof. The reverse looks sharp, but, these nearly always have a much sharper reverse than obverse.

[shirohniichan]

What would cause wire rims on circulation strike coins?

[BillJones]

Wire rims are not a function of a Proof coinage. They are a mistake in the striking process. A wire rim results when there is a space between the die and the collar that surrounds the coin when it is struck. The metal is forced up into that space forming the wire rim.

 

Two of the more famous examples of wire rims are the 1907 High Relief $20 (which was a mistake that was corrected to create the flat rim variety) and the wire rim that always appears at 12 to 9 o'clock on the obverse of genuine 1911-D $2.50 gold coins.

[shirohniichan]

Thanks, Bill.

 

Now I have a rare error! If only it had a die crack so it'd look like the eagle were peeing.