1986 P Dime

[JonC136]

Looking for some guidance on this 1986 P? Is this doubling?

[mustbebob]

Please be a bit more specific so we can attempt to get accurate opinions. Where are you seeing the doubling?

[JonC136]

I was looking at the date, mintmark,and in god we trust. But just not sure. Still learning. It may just be the poor quality at the Philadelphia mint. I see some slight separation but I could be wrong. Was it normal to have these puffy letters and dates from that date.

[mustbebob]

Jon, there are many issues that affect what we see on coins. Saying generically that the Philly mint had poor quality is not fair. Coin dies do degrade after striking hundreds of thousands of coins. That die deterioration is probably what we are seeing here. A short answer to your question is 'Yes'...deterioration of the die can result in puffy letters. This same die started with extremely sharp devices when the die was new, but degraded over time. That would not have been a quality issue, but just normal wear on the die.

[JonC136]

Thank you for helping me. It means a lot. It is nice to have some explanation to get a better understanding. Knowing the how and why is part of the learning process. So great information. I can see it takes a long time to develop a good eye. But with each interaction and look I learn more and more. Glad I found this organization. Between reading and this interaction it has been great.