1960 Crown

[Dirt Monkey 1 3]

Hi again,

Is there any easy way to tell if a 1960 crown is a polished die? I ask as I have just bought (from ebay... I know I'm sorry) what were advertised to be a UNC crown and a polished die 1960. With them both in hand the polished die is a much better standard of coin but I was expecting more. Was I expecting too much or have I made my first noob mistake.

Cheers in advance

Jason

P.S. sorry if this has been answered before but I did a search on here and couldn't find any reference to it.

[Rob 3,126]

What do you have and what were you expecting? The polished die coins have a reflective field, but don't have a frosted bust as you might find on a proof.

[Paulus 1,975]

There was a thread recently suggesting that there was a progression in 'quality' that goes Circulation coin > Polished Die > Specimen > Proof, with some confusion on the use of terminology over the years

[Gary1000 41]

There was a thread recently suggesting that there was a progression in 'quality' that goes Circulation coin > Polished Die > Specimen > Proof, with some confusion on the use of terminology over the years

The 1960 polished crown was minted exclusively at the 1960 US exhibition using dies specially prepared for the purpose. Comparing the UK minted crowns to the US exhition minted coins should be like comparing chalk and cheese.

[Dirt Monkey 1 3]

I think the problem is that I didn't know what to expect, I read the thread that Paulus mentioned but still didn't really get it. This is the first proof/polished die/specimen type coin I have bought so I think I was hoping that when the two coins arrived it would be as obvious as Gary1000 suggests and would help me to learn the differences for myself. I think that's why I was a little dismayed when they arrived.

I don't know any other collectors so only have pictures in books and online to assist me.

I am going to photograph the coin which is labelled as Polished Die and post it, if that is ok, to get your opinions?

Starting to feel I've made a foolish mistake

[Peter 615]

It is a £10 coin compared to a £3 coin so mistakes are deminimus.

[Dirt Monkey 1 3]

Oh.... I have been even more stupid than I first thought. In preparation for photographing the polished die I have discovered that I can now clearly see the difference between the two coins; they are, as Gary1000 stated, like chalk and cheese. The valuable lesson I have learned is that a coin may look totally different when its removed from the 2x2 flip it is sent in .

If everyone wouldn't mind just ignoring this thread that would be much appreciated. Nothing to see here

Or if you feel I am too stupid to remain amongst you then feel free to delete me (please don't I would be devastated).

[TomGoodheart 391]

LOL There are two phrases that I think are useful you will encounter fairly frequently on the forum Jason.

One is 'in the hand' and the other is 'eye appeal' I think you've possibly just had a valuable lesson in both!

And we don't delete people. Everyone here started knowing little and most of us are still learning. No shame in that.

Edited October 1, 2015 by TomGoodheart

[PWA 1967 2,100]

Oh.... I have been even more stupid than I first thought. In preparation for photographing the polished die I have discovered that I can now clearly see the difference between the two coins; they are, as Gary1000 stated, like chalk and cheese. The valuable lesson I have learned is that a coin may look totally different when its removed from the 2x2 flip it is sent in .

If everyone wouldn't mind just ignoring this thread that would be much appreciated. Nothing to see here

Or if you feel I am too stupid to remain amongst you then feel free to delete me (please don't I would be devastated).

Normally its me who is stupid ,nothing wrong in asking questions if so i would of been deleated ages ago.