A copper coin from Bhutan

[KurtS]

This just arrived in a little envelope from Bhutan. This coin dates to either 1951 or 1955 by type (but undated on the coin). This comes from the period before Bhutan fully opened to the West--when their traditional military was still armed with bows!

I'm fascinated by this coin because it's just so different from our Western money, which is ultimately based on Roman/Byzantine/Greek conventions. There's also a nice die crack at 4:00.

[Dick]

kurt, that is a nice looking crack! The coin is nice, too. Nice acquisition! The more I lkook at the coin, the more I see! It tells a story of mankind. From birth, (East), to death, (south). It tells of the sky, (N-W) the oceans, (North-east_ of mankind, and his evolution (North), and the ultimate departure from the Earth, (west. The mass departure from Earth). Some imagination, EH?
Dick

[KurtS]

LOL...that's the cool thing about those symbols; they could mean anything--to me at least since I'm not Buddhist.

There seems to be another die crack (and retained chip) from 6-7:00. I suppose East and West had similar problems with their dies?

[Dick]

Kurt, I saw that line, and decided it was not a crack. It could be, but I can't see it well enough to be sure. Now the other one, NO DOUBT!
Dick

[KurtS]

It might be something else...I'll take a closer macro sometime just for fun. Oh btw--I found two 1998 wide AM Lincolns tonight!

[Dick]

Way to go, Kurt! Nice finds. I'm still looking. Find what your trouble was, logging in here?
Dick

[KurtS]

I got a few boxes of cents from back east, which seemed to have helped! Dunno what the problem was...it's better now.

[Dick]

Nice to see you are "back in operation", again! Kurt, Between Marc, and L, there is a new topic, and thread, clashed dies, the story of the 1979 cent. We both got the idea at the same time, and I posted it in the wrong forum! It should have been in the Canadian forum, and I asked that it be moved there. Do you have the expertice with Photoshop to make an ovwerlay of the 1979 cent? It would be very useful, if possible. i have asked Coop for permission to use hid overlays of the memorial cent for educational purposes , and as an aid for the Canadian members to see, and use for determining the why of the remnants from the clashed dies, that seemed to be so prevalent, or the PONE that was allowed to continue running for many, many cents thru, before being shut dow, Or, at least that is what seems to be the case. The case in point, at the moment is how the clash remnants, and the severe MD occured on the same coins. I have one with the clash, and another with severe MD. Others have both. Thanks,
You say you received some "boxes" from "back East". I thought you lived"ack east"! I'm less than 100 milwes from the pacific Ocean, so I guess I am out West.
Dick

[KurtS]

Dick,
I do have a lot of experience with Photoshop, but not creating overlays in perhaps the same sense as the Lincoln experts do. I think in those cases, picking the datapoints is very important in creating a standard by which other coins are judged. I'd like to understand first how these are made to make my own.

As for me--I live very west too near the ocean in California. That's why I got the 3 boxes of cents from back East--there's no way to find P-cents otherwise!

[Dick]

AHA!!! I had you stuck somewhere up north, close to the CAnadian border! Small world. You know where I live, because The SBDO area includes my little city, Rialto, CA.
Sitting here, watching the activities on the Space Station, and thinking why was I born 30, or 40 years too soon??? I guess I was spoiled by reading science Fiction stories in the thirtys, as a kid. Maybe in the next life. Sorry about the day-dreaming.
I know what you mean about the "P" MM's. I have a great-grandson who is in college in S DAkota, but I don't think he has time for chasing boxes of coins! He is one of the players on "the other team" that one hates to se come on the field, especially if one of our players has pulled a personal foul against their players! He is Huge. 275, and no fat!MAybe, if I sent him the money.....
Back to the subject at hand. Coop does a lot of overlay work, and makes some beautigul avatars, too. I mention Coop, as tho he is the only one, but there are several others, but I don't know to what extent they are able to go. I have PS 7.0. but get lost, fast, and then frustrated. Then i do back to doing something that is less infuriating!
Dick

[Dick]

I hate it when I double post this way!
Dick

[coop]

Here are a few links to help on Photoshop
http://www.coppercoins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1273&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

http://www.coppercoins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1516

http://www.coppercoins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1515

[KurtS]

Thanks Coop! Like I mentioned somewhere before, I've used PS for 15 years, including some fairly technical analysis work done for NASA. Well, now people know!

What really interests me on this subject is developing a highly accurate overlay method for analyzing particular die varieties. I thought your overlay for the 70-S SD was very good, and I'd like to develop my own overlays for other coins. At best, all I can think of is a "relative" analysis based on comparing one coin feature to another, since absolute measurements are near impossible due to the artifacts and distortion introduced by digital photography and lighting.

So at present, I resort to using my eyes and brain for some "fuzzy logic" analysis, which I generally find works pretty well.

[coop]

Sizing with the date helps put into prespective the location of RPMs. If you have two images with the full dates it is easier to figure. But if you don't cuting the two to the same points and making the adjustment in size is a good start. Also making sure the two dates are straight at the top edge with the same two points you determine. (The further apart the points are, the better.) The date is taken from the master die for all three mints so it is usually not a variable. (Except for doubled dies and machine damaged dates) So it is something you can determine the size, then using the location of the RPM to see if it matches a known die or known die image. That just a start. A lot of other factors, but it is a start.

[KurtS]

Thanks! If I really get into Lincoln varieties, that's going to be useful. The datapoints for IHC varieties are fairly easy to eyeball with the large date and devices.