Die alignment errors

The orientation of the two sides of a coin is not predetermined by the issue decree issued by the Ministry of the Treasury, unlike all the other characteristics that a standard coin must have (eg legal weight, alloy composition, etc.).

As regards the coinage in Lire of the Kingdom of Italy and the Italian Republic, generally this orientation of the faces is 180 ° (the so-called French axis) unlike the medals which have an orientation of 0 ° (the so-called axis at German).

The French axis is recognized by orienting one of the two sides of the coin in the right position (reading order) and then reversing the coin vertically (not laterally as is the case with medals) in such a way as to be able to check whether the axis of the opposite face corresponds to 180 °, ie in the right position.

The installation of the dies on the money press is a delicate operation and if it is not carried out wisely, all the coins that will subsequently be hit by the badly positioned dies will have the wrong orientation on one of the two sides.

mulo

(E.B.57) 10 Lire 1977 R Spighe - Repubblica Italiana
R/ Axis 135° insted 180°.

mulo

(E.B.58) 10 Lire 1949 R Pegaso Repubblica Italiana
R/ Axis 115° instead 180°.

In other cases, a die properly fixed to the working money press could loosen due to vibrations and the high striking rate. In this case, the error is not repetitive, unlike those coins that are hit by badly installed dies before switching on the press. These are the main causes for which the so-called coins with rotated axis can be found in circulation (E.B.55, E.B.56, E.B.57 and E.B.58). Furthermore, it may happen that one of the two dies, instead of rotating, moves laterally during the beating phase, misaligning with respect to the opposite die and thus giving rise to coins with misaligned axis (E.B.59 and E.B.60).

mulo

(E.B.60) 100 Lire 1994 R FAO - Repubblica Italiana
O/ Misaligned die .


Login or Sign up to insert new coins in the search engine and know the prices and rarity of all the coins in our database. The service is totally free.