American Silver Eagle Strike Disparity

[utahfuntimes]

So I received a 2018 uncirculated silver eagle from APMEX today. I am really confused by the strike quality. When I compare it to a 2022, nothing looks crisp... the edges look rounded. Close up pictures are attached here of the 2018 and 2022. The lines on the 2022 letter Y are nice and crisp. The lines on the 2018 are not. Stark difference. The last picture attached is a close up of a 1991. Same thing... you can clearly see the serif on the Y, not on the 2018. The first picture of the 2022 even has a slight curve to the leg in the "R" in trust. The second picture for the 2018 the leg in the "R" is straight. And in the last, the 1991, the "R" also has the curve in the leg. So I am just confused by these differences.

Anyone have any explanation why this is? I cannot seem to find any information that explains this. I took the 2018 to a local reputable dealer, and they say it's authentic. I weighed it, measured it... and everything seems right.

Edited September 20, 2022 by utahfuntimes

[Happypanda88]

The US Mint produces millions of these ASE per year. Perhaps the mint die used to strike the 2018 coin had worn out so details aren't as crisp. 

But it is still a 1oz silver bullion coin and is worth the going market value for ASEs.

[CollectForFun]

The difference in the shape of the letters is really noticeable. That can't be due to worn out dies...

But when I quickly checked Eagle images on the internet it seems there indeed is a different design of the letters on the coins from different years. Besides the R with a straight leg, you can notice also U is completely different with the extra "leg".

It seems 2022 version has this new design, while 2008 - 2021 coins have the other one. 2007 coin and all (?) before seem to have the design which was adopted again in 2022. Interesting...

[Arganto]

I posted a topic about this a while back but it didn't garner much interest. I don't think it's to do with strike, I think they changed the font. I had a bunch in hand of different dates and noticed differences in font, one having sharper edges and a wider profile. All in storage now and can't remember off hand the years I was looking at.

 

 

[Arganto]

And by storage I obviously mean sunk to the bottom of the ocean what with the boating accident and all

[LawrenceChard]

7 hours ago, utahfuntimes said:

So I received a 2018 uncirculated silver eagle from APMEX today. I am really confused by the strike quality. When I compare it to a 2022, nothing looks crisp... the edges look rounded. Close up pictures are attached here of the 2018 and 2022. The lines on the 2022 letter Y are nice and crisp. The lines on the 2018 are not. Stark difference. The last picture attached is a close up of a 1991. Same thing... you can clearly see the serif on the Y, not on the 2018. The first picture of the 2022 even has a slight curve to the leg in the "R" in trust. The second picture for the 2018 the leg in the "R" is straight. And in the last, the 1991, the "R" also has the curve in the leg. So I am just confused by these differences.

Anyone have any explanation why this is? I cannot seem to find any information that explains this. I took the 2018 to a local reputable dealer, and they say it's authentic. I weighed it, measured it... and everything seems right.

 

4 hours ago, Happypanda88 said:

The US Mint produces millions of these ASE per year. Perhaps the mint die used to strike the 2018 coin had worn out so details aren't as crisp. 

But it is still a 1oz silver bullion coin and is worth the going market value for ASEs.

Perhaps you bought them from @Apmex100 instead of APMEX 😎

With such big production runs at competitive prices*, it would be surprising if every coin was perfect.

* Of course the US Mint has a monopoly on producing American Silver Eagles, but the Royal Canadian Mint produce Maple Leafs, and there are other mints fighting for their own market share.

😎

[MetalMandible]

The type 2 ASE featured not only the new reverse design but also an attempt to clean up aspects of the obverse.  This probably explains the differences you noticed.  No need for concern, your older eagle is legit.

[utahfuntimes]

917563

6 hours ago, CollectForFun said:

The difference in the shape of the letters is really noticeable. That can't be due to worn out dies...

But when I quickly checked Eagle images on the internet it seems there indeed is a different design of the letters on the coins from different years. Besides the R with a straight leg, you can notice also U is completely different with the extra "leg".

It seems 2022 version has this new design, while 2008 - 2021 coins have the other one. 2007 coin and all (?) before seem to have the design which was adopted again in 2022. Interesting...

Now that makes sense. Earlier coins and the 2021/22 have a similar look. The 2008 to early 2021 seem to have a slightly less refined font. Thanks for the answer.