Planchet

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the coin blank. For the triangular board used in paranormal activities, see Planchette.
Planchets in a press feed system, on their way to the stamping press.

A planchet English: /ˈplæntʃət/ is a round metal disk that is ready to be struck as a coin. An older word for planchet is flan. They are also referred to as blanks.

History

The preparation of the flan or planchet has varied over the years. In ancient times, the flan was heated before striking because the metal that the

coin dies
were made of was not as hard as dies today, and the dies would have worn faster and broken sooner had the flan not been heated to a high temperature to soften it.

An unusual method was used to mint the one-sided, bowl-shaped

Harz Mountains. The curved shape of the pfennig was very useful for handling small change because it was easier to grip than a flat coin.[1]

Modern striking

Today's dies are made from

annealed
by heating and slow cooling which softens the coin.

Preparation

A 6,000-pound coil is fed into a blanking press at the US Mint.

Preparation of the modern planchet involves several steps. First, the metal (or metals in the case of clad or multilayered coins) is rolled out into a large roll or sheet of the correct thickness. This process is often done by third parties, not by the

mint itself. These flat rolls or sheets of metal are then punched out into round blanks that are a little larger than the coin being struck. The blanks are then subjected to an annealing process that softens the metal through heating to approximately 750 degrees Celsius (1400 degrees Fahrenheit
) and are then slowly air cooled. They are then washed to remove residue from the annealing process and dried.

Completion

Main article: Coining (mint)

Finally, the planchet is struck. After striking, it becomes a coin and is no longer a planchet. Occasionally, a planchet will escape the mint without having been struck. This is a blank planchet error, and is usually worth a few dollars for modern coins. Occasionally, blank planchets can be rare and valuable, such is the case for

Morgan Dollar
blank planchets, although authentication and appraisal by a coin grading service is highly recommended for such pieces as they would be fairly easy to counterfeit.

See also

References

  1. ^ Helmut Kahnt: Das große Münzlexikon von A bis Z. (2005), p. 249.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Planchets.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Planchet&oldid=1214637466"