NEWMAN PORTAL SEARCH: STARBURST EFFECT

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V21 2018 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 21, Number 12, March 25, 2018, Article 9

NEWMAN PORTAL SEARCH: STARBURST EFFECT

Project Coordinator Len Augsburger offers observations related to content being searched for on the Newman Numismatic Portal. This week's search term is "Starburst Effect". -Editor

This week a Newman Portal user searched for the term “starburst effect.” While Newman Portal searches are anonymous, the search terms themselves are logged. Newman Portal delivers but a single result for this term, but the definition comes straight from the U.S. Mint. In the Fall 2013 issue of The Centinel, Steve Bieda wrote an important article on U.S. Mint coinage dies produced in conjunction with the 1996 Olympic Games held in Atlanta, and, as part of his research, found an 1997 Coin World article explaining the situation. Bieda writes:

A vast majority of the Olympic dies sold by the Mint were taken out of service because of what the Mint called “starburst.” “The starburst effect is so named because it looks like a starburst gemstone,” according to George E. Hunter, then assistant U.S. Mint director for process and quality control, in a 1997 Coin World interview. “Its design is radial, though not perfectly radial, and occurs in the direction of the metal flow.”

The starburst effect is caused by abrasive particles that build up and then etch the die as they are carried outward from a central point in the direction of metal flow during successive strikes. It was the primary reason for removing most of the dies used to strike proofs, and among the Olympic dies sold to collectors, was the reason more than two-thirds of the dies were taken out of service.

In this case, picture is worth a thousand words, and this image, courtesy of Roger Burdette (from United States Proof Coins 1936-1942) demonstrates the effect on a proof Mercury dime. “Starburst effect” is commonly seen on U.S. proof coins following the recommencement of proof coinage in 1936. Production techniques improved in time and today anything but a perfect, smooth mirror would be a disappointment.

Roger Burdette adds:

"Starburst" on a die is even more extreme looking than on the photo.

Link to The Centinel on Newman Portal:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/513721?page=53

Wayne Homren, Editor

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

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