Edge lettering applied after strike (incuse) (small dollar coins)
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- Absent lettering (CW 4/26/10)
- Due to bypassing the lettering device
- Due to excessive spacing between steel wheel and lettering die
- Vertically misaligned letters (cut off at top)
- Vertically misaligned letters (cut off at bottom)
- Wrong spacing between incuse design elements
- Obliquely-oriented lettering
- Overlapping letters
- Two sets of letters
- Skipped letters
- Letters on wrong planchet
- 2007-D Sacagawea dollar with Presidential edge lettering (CW 7/9/12)
- Chipped letter
- Lightly impressed letters (weak lettering) (CW 4/26/10)
- Unusually deep letters (coin squeezed too hard, leaving a rippled margin)
- Incomplete letters
- Smeared letters
- Edge letter font subtypes (CW 10/18/10)
- Wrong date on edge (doesn’t match any President of that year) (CW 2/22/10, 3/1/10)
- 2009 Zachary Taylor dollar with 2010-D edge inscription (CW 2/22/10, 3/1/10)
- Edge lettering on unstruck planchet (CW 3/26/07, 3/17/08)
- Lettering die inclusion (CW 9/14/15)
- Absent lettering (CW 4/26/10)
Note: Edge lettering and other edge design elements may be impressed during upsetting, during the strike, by a special machine before the strike, or by a lettering device after the strike. Similar-looking defects can occur in each of these processes. Any edge design that forms a closed interlock between the edge of the coin and the collar cannot be produced during the strike since that will prevent ejection of the coin after the strike.
Special Note: Some presidential dollar coins have had the edge lettering removed outside the mint. Use caution when buying any edge lettering error.
The diagnostics for authentic presidential coin missing its edge lettering are as follows:
1. Diameter should be 26.46 mm. Coins altered outside the mint will have a diameter that is less than 26.46 mm and will have a diameter of approximately 26.21 mm.
2. The coin’s weight should be approximately 7.98 g ± .03 g. Altered coins will weigh less from the removal of the edge lettering. Weights of approximately 7.89 g are commonly seen on altered coins.
3. An unaltered presidential dollar coin will have vertical lines along the edge. These lines are created when the coin is ejected. Altered coins will not normally have these lines, but instead will have horizontal lines. These horizontal lines are from milling or similar machines used outside the mint to remove the letters and are the aftereffects of the metal being abraded off the coin.
The above image shows the vertical lines present on the edge of an unaltered presidential dollar coin with no edge lettering
Table of edge lettering errors found on the presidential and native American dollar coins
Post-strike chemical treatment
Matte or frosted finish applied after strike
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- Finish omitted on one or both faces (CW 8/1/11, 8/29/11)