LUBE__UP t1_isxhj6k wrote on October 19, 2022 at 12:46 PM

Is it that difficult to cast a new die from a new coin anyway? Always thought the main deterrent against counterfeiting coins was the cost of the metals, not the ability to cast a good copy

MorbidAversion t1_isxmt78 wrote on October 19, 2022 at 1:29 PM

I think the issue wasn't that it was a good copy but rather that it was literally indistinguishable from real currency.

studio_baker t1_isyqcqu wrote on October 19, 2022 at 5:56 PM

Coin dies aren't cast. And this probably wasn't the die anyway but what they call a punch. It's kind of the master(it looks like a coin, as in it is a positive of the coin design) that is then used to make the dies(which is a negative of the coin image) whick strike the blank to make the coin. Punches last a really long time in minting(decades), but the dies are used up fairly quickly, as in you need many for one production run.

Canadian coins nowadays are actually nearly all steel and are plated in specific ways to get the look and electronic signature correct.