I have been searching a lot of web sites to see how the edge lettering on Sacagawea dollars from 2009 to present date are applied. Is it done in two stages i.e. ... all lettering and the date in one stage and then the stars placed on at a second stage. Or, is it all (lettering,date and stars) placed on in one stage? I did see that West Point lettering is in three stages. Would love to be directed to sites that explain the process of edge lettering.
From what I understand, the edge lettering is ALL applied at the same time using a machine similar to an upsetting mill where the coin is force rolled around a center pivot as the lettering is applied. Similar to the process in the video below except the coins are machine fed into a spinning device. Thats for the circulating coinage. Proof coins get edge lettering applied using the third die, or collar in the coining press. As such, Proof Coin Edge lettering is all the orientation and all in the same location. The exception is that, during the early processes, the "third" die consisted of three individual pieces (they still do) but the three pieces were not "interlocking. As such, during the pressing of the Jefferson Proof coins, it was discovered (by a collector) that the pieces were inserted into the coin press in the wrong order. Since then, the dies have been made with interlocking edges which allows the to be put into the press in only a specific sequence. It is speculated that some of the recent "Missing Edge Lettering" coins and some of the "Weak Edge Lettering" coins is a direct result of not enough pressure being used in the edge lettering machine. This would allow coins to pass through without receiving complete or even lacking edge lettering. I could not find a video on this process except for the one above.
Thank you SchwaVB57 and 19lyds... I think I now have a better understanding of how edge lettering works. A while back, I posted 2016 stardate on this site and said the star in the date was raised, it was not. It was incused. since that post, I have been trying to understand the edge lettering process. I will post a couple of images to see if my thought process is correct. The first image I believe the coin slipped causing the gap between the 7th and 8th star. The second image is after the slip of the coin and shows remaining three stars running into the date. Also, I have read posts on this site that state this type of error is somewhat common. I will still keep it.
Yep. Both were caused by "slippage" from what I understand. Vary Cool "Star Date"! Edge Lettering, as of 2007, peaked a lot of interest in these coins. That interest continued right up to Dec 2011 when the White House caved and, instead of eliminating the dollar bill, eliminated the production of Presidential and Native American Dollars except for collector needs. I've seen Wide Lettering (Heavy Pressure), Skinny Lettering (Narrow Pressure), and what appears to be "Outlined" Lettering which was most common on the Weak Edge Lettering coins. I'm sure that with enough interest, the edge lettering on these coins could be dissected in numerous directions.
