Part IV. Die Errors:

Die Deterioration/Deformation Errors:

Severe Die Wear:

Design-Devouring Die Wear

Definition: Die wear that results in the lowering, thinning, and disappearance of design elements.  Conventional die wear usually results in the expansion of letters and numbers, which is often accompanied by indistinct and irregular margins.  In design-devouring die wear, letters and numbers become lower, thinner, and smaller, while retaining their shape.  This pattern of design distortion is caused by a retreat of the field portion of the die down to the deepest levels of the die’s recesses.  Letters and numbers are narrowest at the bottom of their respective recesses.

The obverse face of this 2012-P Denali National Part quarter dollar shows design-devouring die wear.  The motto IN GOD WE TRUST is most severely affected.  Design-devouring die wear is common in the AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL series of quarter dollars.

The lower half of this 2015-P dime shows the effects of design-devouring die wear.  The letters of IN GOD WE TRUST are quite thin, while the date and mintmark have nearly disappeared.

The periphery of this 1988 cent shows development of a “ridge ring”, a form of die wear common in zinc cents.  Here the field portion of the die has retreated, and this has resulted in thinning of the motto IN GOD WE TRUST.