# Presidential Dollar Coins - Obverse Engraving?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidential-dollar-coins-obverse-engraving/452074>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 6, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidential-dollar-coins-obverse-engraving/452074 "2008-06-06T23:40:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidential-dollar-coins-obverse-engraving/452074/1 "2008-06-06T23:40:56Z")

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I picked up a [John Q Adams dollar coin](http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/$1coin/index.cfm?action=adams) today. It has a nice image of Adams; looking like a character out of Dickens.  
The statue of liberty engraving on the obverse has an odd appearance to it though, rather angular, with a few discordant wiggly lines.  
Were the dies for the obverse engraved with a reducing lathe as coin dies have been [“for over a hundred years”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coin_die), or are they the product of some newfangled computer etching technique?

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**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidential-dollar-coins-obverse-engraving/452074/2 "2008-06-07T00:32:17Z")

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In another thread, someone linked to [this article](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/31/080331fa_fact_owen) from the New Yorker. It mentions that the process is entirely digital. It seems to involve a digitizing tablet for creating the design. The process for making the die is not specified, although I suspect a CNC process is used.

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidential-dollar-coins-obverse-engraving/452074/3 "2008-06-07T03:53:18Z")

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The front of a coin is called the obverse; the back is called the reverse.

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**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidential-dollar-coins-obverse-engraving/452074/4 "2008-06-07T12:59:30Z")

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[QUOTE=panache45]  
The front of a coin is called the obverse; the back is called the reverse.  
[/QUOTE]

It’s not immediately obvious to me which should really be called the obverse. The side with the consistent iconic image and indication of value looks to me like a good argument.

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**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2008, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidential-dollar-coins-obverse-engraving/452074/5 "2008-06-07T14:14:08Z")

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The mint link labels them as **panache45** said. They just do it in such a way that it’s easy to misread.