2000 P New Hampshire Quarter - Bold Font?

[Robertg8887]

The other day I was going through a few rolls of quarters and I came across this anomaly. The wording on both sides of the coin looks like it is considerably thicker than another 2000 p New Hamphshire when placed side by side with a typical example from that run.

It looks to me like someone checked the box to make the font bold like you would in Microsoft Word. It doesn't appear to taper in thickness as the wording wraps around there doesn't seem to be any overlap or marring that would suggest a very close DD. It simply is just thick, like the operator told the machine that was making these dies to make the wording bold. It's a subtle thing to notice but after having seen 10s of thousands of obverses while flipping the font stuck out to me and seemed off. Under 10x it's clear something is going on but I don't know what to call this because I haven't seen it before.

Has anyone else seen anything similar to this?

[mustbebob]

This is where knowing how coins are made can help you. There can not be a 'bold font'. An operator just can't change things like this. Coins are struck by dies, so all coins should be the same. However, there are things that can make appearances seem different, and that is die wear/deterioration and or circulation wear and damage. If you are not aware of how coins are made, then give it a read. It is great stuff and will teach you how things can and can not happen during the process.

[Robertg8887]

Im not saying the strike made this bolder. Obviously dies are what strikes the coin, yet whoever made the die could have easily choose to make a font bold . This isn't some kind of hub error where the material was shifted to one side and its visible. Nor is it strike/machine doubling. Instead of calling me incompetent and avoiding my question why not look at the differences are come up with a counter explanation to promote discussion.

I'd agree with you if it was die deterioration however if it were and to get to that point the die would have to be very worn out and show other obvious signs like radial die deterioration. However there is none present. Die wear would also not only effect just one this, it would effect the entire face. The lettering is to sharp, uniform, clear and distinct to be wear damage from handling. Again if it was wear damage then the higher contact areas would be also worn smooth. They aren't the detail is intact.

I take it you don't see what I see or you don't have a explanation for what is going on. Explain to me how lettering is uniform in both same size and character on both side of this coin when compared to a normal coin of same mint and year. It's to defined to be grease and to sharp to be ware. If it was rounded and show a radius on the right angles I'd agree with you. However it doesn't

[Kloccwork419]

Clearer closer pics would be better. I can see its thicker but cant see anything else from your pictures

[Kloccwork419]

Obviously dies are what strikes the coin, yet whoever made the die could have easily choose to make a font bold .

This is why Bob said knowing how dies are made will help.

[MintErrors]

All "normal" dies are created equal. Especially under this new "single squeeze" era. They take a master hub, place this master hub at the top of a high tonnage press and place a blank working die below it. They squeeze them together and TADA ! a die is made. They do that over and over until they feel they have enough to support the operations for the year. So almost every one of them is a duplicate copy of the master hub.

How would one get a "Bold Font" ? I have NO idea.

Then I go down the question line and say.....
What are the odds that a obverse die was created with a little too much pressure? And what are the odds that a second die, this time a reverse die was created with a little bit too much pressure? And what are the odds that these hypothetical one of a kind dies happen the be placed in the same minting machine at the same time when there are typically 9-15 machines minting coins at any given time. I don't have a good feeling about this being a strong possibility.

I will say this, to me it's very odd that this thickness is both on the obverse and the reverse. I personally don't know the US mint practices, but it seems like these dies may have been in the same minting press for the entire life of the dies, some where around 325,000 coins. These may have been some of the last ones (say tens of thousands) before they pulled the dies and retired them.

Typically I see a worn out die only on one side of the coin. The other side was replaced with something newer.

Typically I see die deterioration in select areas on a coin, its not all over and its not evenly spaced and on both sides of the coin.

[Robertg8887]

I will provide better pictures in the morning as I have a clip on 20x optical lens somewhere. Once I find it I'll add them for further consideration and discussion. Thank you.

[mustbebob]

Instead of calling me incompetent and avoiding my question why not look at the differences are come up with a counter explanation to promote discussion.

I also think you should be very careful about what you say here. No one called you incompetent. I didn't avoid your question, I answered it. I do not have to prove anything because I know very well how dies are made. What counter explanation would you encourage to promote discussion? If you are wrong or off on the wrong track, I will tell you. I know what, and what can't happen at the mint. It is now your chance to prove me wrong. You are in this forum throwing things around that just don't happen, like having an operator change things like fonts? Really? If you knew the process, you would know this can't happen. At what stage would you think this could happen? At what point would normal protocol even allow this to happen. It is very well documented how the mint does it's business. I know it well, and have for many, many decades. What is not documented is off the wall guesses of what might happen. We want to try and avoid that. We are an educational forum and we want to teach our membership what is right and wrong. If you are not willing to be told something you don't want to hear, then please move on. Otherwise, enjoy the ride. There are many people here who have good information to pass on without being challenged unnecessarily by comments like yours.