Sweden 5 Öre 1861/57

[Thulium]

This 5 Öre shows a typical marker for 6/5, plus a more interesting mark extending from the "1". The catalogue lists an 1861/57, which I think the overlay below predicts pretty closely. I find it interesting that specific areas of the digit punch are most commonly seen on overdates--this 6/5 is the most common marker seen on coins from Sweden. The reason is probably that corners of the digit punch exert more force on the die, and therefore make deeper impressions. When the prior date is partially polished away, only the deepest marks will remain.

[Figleaf]

thought 1: Car thieves sometimes take the trouble to file away the motor block number of a stolen car. Police have found a way to read it anyway, which is based on the fact that the number leaves traces within the metal in the form of compacted metal.

thought 2: The US buffalo nickel's date wears off quickly. It can be revealed with products reacting with nickel. They eat away the compacted date less quickly than the surrounding area.

Bottom line: even if you fill and file an old date from a die, the die "remembers" the old date in the form of differences in compacted metal. Using the re-punched die, I could imagine that the pressure of the strike works differently on the compacted metal than on the surrounding area, thus resurrecting a date that would have been invisible when the die was first tried after being re-punched.

These dies that look fine when first used, but produce clear overstrikes only later might be the reason a) overstrikes show most in the places where there used to be most metal and b) the clear overstrikes were not noticed for some time and a good number of overstrikes were made from the same die.

Peter

[Thulium]

Bottom line: even if you fill and file an old date from a die, the die "remembers" the old date in the form of differences in compacted metal. Using the re-punched die, I could imagine that the pressure of the strike works differently on the compacted metal than on the surrounding area, thus resurrecting a date that would have been invisible when the die was first tried after being re-punched.
Peter

Those are good thoughts.  I've heard that acid treatment of filed-off numbers will often resolve digits; the same could occur due to die wear.

[Globetrotter]

Hi Thulium,

do you think, you could help me with the full coin image of the overdate coin, so I can finish this documentation correctly?

Thanks in advance

[Figleaf]

Unfortunately, Thulium hasn't been seen here since last January. A PM would be more effective, Ole.

Peter