During the preparation process, blank planchets are subjected to all kinds of rough treatment, and in this way acquire numerous abrasions, tiny nicks, etc. When the planchet is used to make a coin, if certain areas of the planchet are not fully impressed into the deepest recesses of the die so as to make the planchet metal flow against the die surfaces, it is the case the original marks on the planchet can still be seen on the coin. This is a fine point of distinction, and most collectors and dealers are not aware of it. For this reason a softly struck Liberty Walking half dollar, for example, can have virtually flawless, frosty, lustrous fields but on the higher parts of the coin show nicks and marks from the original planchet.

Marks Acquired After a Coin is Struck

I have just described how marks, die breaks, evidence of die clashes, laminations, adjustment marks, and other attributes of dies and planchets can affect the appearance of a coin and are characteristic of a piece at the moment of striking. Now I address the grade or condition of a coin, which is determined by marks, abrasions, friction, and other evidences of contact which occur after a coin is struck.

The minting process: A explanation of the striking process is in order:

The typical minting procedure for a coin produced for circulation, known as a business strike, is as follows:

After the planchets are prepared they are put into a bin or hopper, from which they are jostled or, in early times, hand placed into a feeding tube on the coin press, which positions each planchet between the dies (certain types of modern coining presses have multiple dies and use more than one planchet at a time). The coin is struck when the top die, being movable, is forced down on to the planchet, which is resting on the bottom die. The metal is squeezed upward and downward into the recesses of the obverse and reverse dies and outward into a restraining device, called a collar (which imparts to the coin the characteristics of the collar, typically plain or reeded in modern times). No care is taken to strike coins with needle-sharp detail, as the object is to produce coins as rapidly as possible. As a result, some coins are carelessly or weakly struck (more about this later).