VOCABULARY TERMS: COINING DIES AND COLLAR DIES

This week we have two terms which have the same meaning.Two for the price of one. Mints which produce only coins will use the term Coining Dies. Mints or medal makers which use both technologies – coining and splash striking -- will use the term Collar Dies to differentiate from Open Face Dies.

Coining Dies. Specially prepared working dies intended for use in a coining press which produces a struck piece – coin or medal – with a single blow, including some form of edge treatment. Coining dies are made from very low relief (BAS-RELIEF) models and are always used in a coining press with a COLLAR which will produce a smooth or reeded edge. Since coining dies must fit within a collar, they are also called COLLAR DIES. In very rare instances medals struck with coining dies without a collar, forming indistinct borders, is called SPLASH STRIKING (q.v.).
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Collar Dies. Coining dies that specially prepared for use with a collar and to be used in a coining press. Collar dies are turned on a lathe to have a neck slightly smaller than the diameter of the struck piece. This allows the dies to enter the aperture or center hole of the collar, forming the COINING CHAMBER, strike the piece and then retract. Actually the dies force the blank against the restraining walls of the collar (which forms the edge, smooth or reeded); and one die ejects the struck piece from the collar. Collar dies and coining dies have much the same meaning; they are in contrast to OPEN FACE DIES (BOX DIES in Britain), which are used with no collar at all. See DIES AND DIEMAKING.
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Looking for the meaning of a numismatic word, or the description of a term?  Try the Newman Numismatic Portal's Numismatic Dictionary at: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/dictionary

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