Q. David Bowers
The term die state refers to the condition of the dies when a particular piece was struck. Specific considerations for certain die states include these:
1. The presence of pitting or rust, which on a coin appears raised, sometimes as a rough or grainy patch. In the humid Philadelphia summer, a die not protected by grease could rust in a matter of days.
2. Die finishing marks, which include file marks and polishing marks, are often visible as raised lines near the denticles. As a die was used, these marks wore away gradually.
3. Repunching marks made when a design element such as a date numeral, star, or inscription letter was punched more than once, with the second punch being slightly misaligned, showing a doubling on the finished coin. Sometimes, repunching was done to correct an error. Often such repunching traces wore away as the die was used, or dwindled or vanished after the die was relapped. An example of a die-punching error is furnished by 1798 BB-118, which has the N in UNITED over a previous erroneous I. And on 1795 BB-21, 22, and 23, the 7 is punched over an erroneous 1.
4. Die cracks. Cracks in a die-ranging from tiny hairline cracks extending for a short distance, to massive cracks bisecting a coin, to rim breaks-usually start small, and increase in length and prominence. Often (as in the case of 1800 BB-194, the so-called Dotted Date), a die crack would begin as one or a series of dots or small lumps. A die with a crack just beginning indicates an earlier state than one with the same crack more advanced, or with additional cracks. Dies broke for several reasons, including being used extensively. If a die was improperly hardened during the die preparation process, it might crack after only a few coins were struck from it, thus creating a rare die variety. Theoretically, a die could acquire cracks during the preparation process, including by improper hardening; in such an instance, all coins struck from the die, from the first piece onward, would show the crack(s). A famous example of this is the 1793 Liberty Cap cent, Sheldon-14, always found with vertical crack bisecting the obverse. Caveat: If a die with one or more cracks is relapped, these cracks may be removed, or may be diminished in their prominence.
5. Die clashing. Often during the course of striking silver dollars-in fact, beginning with the initial issue in the series, 1794-the obverse and reverse dies would come together without an intervening planchet. If the impact was severe enough, the harder of the two dies (no two steel dies had exactly the same hardness) would be impressed into the softer die, and lettering, designs, etc., usually in fragmentary form, would be impressed into it. Thus, a die state of 1800 BB-192 has the incuse letters MERlC visible on the right of the obverse between the stars and the border, clashed impressions from these letters as part of AMERICA on the reverse. The letters MERIC were incuse in the reverse die; thus, in clashed form, they were in relief on the obverse die. As they were in relief on the obverse die, they were impressed into the coin incuse (intaglio, or recessed), as noted. If a feature was incuse on a die to begin with, such as the crevices or folds in the drapery on Miss Liberty's bust, then in clashed form they would appear in relief on a coin. This happened on 1800 BB-193, Die State III, which exhibits raised traces of the drapery, now on the reverse of the coin at F in OF. (Bolender called these marks a "die break like a spray.") Perhaps the most spectacular instance of die clashing among early dollars is 1795 BB-13, late state, with much of wing and part of wreath behind the head. Numerous other examples could be cited. Die clashing was a prime reason to relap or resurface a die.
6. Die sinking. As a die was used (especially if imperfectly hardened), it tended to compress the crystalline lattices. The shallower the hardening, the more likely the centers of the die would compress under stress and thus sink the die face. This had the opposite effect on coins struck from the die: the surface of the coins appeared to bulge outward. Die cracks, especially large ones, often contributed to a die sinking in a particular area, causing mounds or bulges on coins struck from that die.
7. Die faces not parallel (axially misaligned). If a pair of dies was put into the coining press, with the faces not parallel, then the upper and lower dies would be closer together on one side and farther apart on the other. Coins struck from such misaligned dies would be sharper and with more prominent border denticles (toothlike rim projections) where the dies were closer together, and lightly struck and indistinct where the dies were more widely separated. This is most often noticed on early cents; die breakage often occurs where the dies come closest together. This situation occurs several times among early dollars, the most famous instance being that of all silver dollars dated 1794. The very rare 1798 BB-91 is another example.
8. Resurfacing or relapping. Sometimes to extend its use (most often to remove clash marks), a die was resurfaced. The reverse die used to coin 1798 BB-101 shows just 10 arrows, but earlier, when used to coin 1798 BB-96, the same die had 10 arrows and two "sticks" (arrows without heads). The die was ground down (called "relapping"), and certain shallow features were removed, including the two sticks. Relapping also caused the denticles to be smaller (and the rims of resultant coins to be lower, thus causing the coins to wear faster), and stars to be irregular or "spidery." Perhaps the most famous instance is the reverse of 1799 BB 158-161, which after two relappings, showed no berries.
9. Strengthening and altering. In some instances, die features were strengthened or augmented. For example, the obverse die used to strike 1795 BB-25 had the tail of the R in LIBERTY strengthened with an engraving tool after relapping had removed some of what was already a defective R (struck from a broken punch).
10. Miscellaneous flaws. Often, early dollar dies had small flaws in certain areas, often around the borders. These were caused by improper finishing of the die, imperfections in the die steel, stray marks from an engraving tool or piece of metal (believed to be the cause for the extra I in the inscription AMERICAI on an 1800 dollar die), or in other ways. Such flaws, indented in the die, appear raised on the coins struck from such a die. Often, such flaws wore away as the die was used. In other instances, flaws indicated die weakness and furnished the genesis for a die crack. Perhaps the outstanding instance of such a stray mark is the diagonal one behind the top curl on 1795 BB-27. On the latest state, relapping weakens this mark.