Die Stage

What Are Die Varieties?

Introduction:

Die Stage

Defining a Die Stage

It is important to keep in mind the process of cataloging die stages. Theoretically it is impossible to collect and to list every stage of a die progression. The reason is that EVERY coin struck by that pair of dies would have to be cataloged in order for the listing to be complete - a task that is practically speaking, impossible. Assume for the sake of argument that you could put together such a set of coins, or even a subset of say 1000 coins, and could line them up in the order in which they were struck. In order for the variety to be collectible (that is for others to be able to put together a similar set), a decision would have to be made as to the degree of difference between coin #1 and coin #1000. Assuming there is a significant difference then Stage A and Stage B are born. There are 1000 coins between these two stages. The next question to ask is just were is the dividing line between them. Is coin #500 a stage A coin or a Stage B coin? I might be willing to part with coin #2 and coin #999 because there just isn't much difference between them and the true stages, but coin #500 is a different animal. So a third stage is born. I now have stage A (Coin #1), stage B (Coin #500) and stage C (coin #1000). So the process continues. Because of just this problem, I have seen reference to Del Romine's die state theory employing the terms EMDS and LMDS; Early Mid Die State and Late Mid Die State. But the question still remains, just what does it take to make a coin a different stage?

In practical experience, there are some important factors to be considered. First, in any given progression, only a mere handful of the average 1 million coins struck by a particular die are examined. It is entirely possible that major stages are missing from the listing. As more and more coins are examined and compared to the listing, more and more stages will be added. Second, the differences between say coin #1 and coin #1000 are usually very slight. There are often thousands of coins in a given stage. This is not always so, but is generally true.

So what does it take to make a coin a different stage? It takes a significant difference; a crack, chip, new die scratch pattern, etc. Each die has its on unique deterioration scheme, so it has its on unique progression listing. Until more than a small handful of coins are examined for any given die, we'll have to live with the fact that our listings and our collections are incomplete. In the meantime, new stages are being discovered every day. Have you found any lately?

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