PO Box 1993, Bloomington, IL 61702-1993
309 662-0159

Now and then a coin will stick to a die and be struck several times with a die.

The most common die cap is a obverse die cap. This is because the obverse die is the hammer die. The obverse die moves downward to strike the reverse die on most coinage presses. The more times the coin is struck, the more the metal from the coin moves up and around the die. Some can resemble a bottle cap, thus the term die cap.

MS 65, 66, or 67 coins are very hard to find in die caps. Remember, these are coins that are struck repeatedly by the die. Most coins are damaged and do not grade above MS 63 or 64.

Here we will show you two different die stages of a reverse die cap.

This is a PCGS certified MS 66 Rd early die stage (EDS) reverse die cap.

Notice the enlarged image of Lincoln. This is from the repeated striking of the obverse die. On the reverse of the coin, you will notice the metal has moved upward around the die.

This coin is a PCGS certified MS 65 late stage reverse die cap.

On this die cap, the coin was struck so many times that the metal is very thin. The image from the reverse die is starting to show through the coin. Also notice the metal has moved upward around the sides of the die.

Broadstruck	Clips
Die Clash	Die Cap
Double Denomination	Double Struck
Flip Over	Multi Struck
Mated Pair	Off Center Struck
Wrong Planchet

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