What is a Business Strike?
Coin minted with the intention to be circulated in channels of commerce. This is opposed to coins that are minted for collectors. Usually has little to no numismatic value.
Business Strike is also called a Circulation Strike and is the most common and efficient strike used by Mint factories. In a business strike, there is no special treatment is given to the dies. Coin dies are the stamping instruments used to imprint coin blanks with designs. Makers of the dies used to create business strike coins use a process that can prioritize efficiency to ensure coins are produced at a lower cost.
Coins created from the Business Strike process are divided into the following categories:
- Mint state
- Uncirculated
- Circulated.
The efficiency of the business striking process means that on a monthly basis the U.S mint can create and put into circulation over a billion coins. The business strike process begins when strips of sheet-metal arrive at the mint in heavy coils. The coils are machine straightened to remove curvature, making the sheets flat and easier to work with. The strips are then moved into a blank press that punches circular discs, also known as blanks from the sheet metal. The blanks are then further manipulated in the annealing process, where the composition of the blanks is softened by fire before they are finally moved to a striking die to have the coin design imprinted.
While the business strike is the most economical process due to the quantity of metal that can be worked with at once and the high production rate, it does also mean that the final coin quality can be compromised.
The predominant metal composition for the dime, quarter, and half-dollar coins produced using a business strike is copper and nickel.
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