Can anyone tell me which type is Position A and which type is Position B on the United States Presidential dollars. For instance, if you place the coin on a table with the president facing up, and you can read the writing on the edge (i.e., the writing is not upside down) - is this Position A or Position B?
Since the text orientation is done at random during the minting process, it is not a deliberate type or variety of the design. The presidential dollars were designed to have the lettering oriented at random, and there is no control over either A or B mintage levels. The US Mint does not track or report such details.
We don't care where on the coin's circumference the lettering starts... why should we care which way it's facing?
Nor is the lettering orientation a modification of the presidential dollar design. The lettering has been applied at random from the beginning of the series to present day.
Finally, I have yet to meet a publisher that cared about this A vs B distinction. Not Krause, not Yeoman, not Numismaster, not NGC or PCGS. Until they start reporting A and B as varieties, neither will I. This is why all of my presidential dollars for trade are type A even if they're really type B.
I dare you to show me an edge-lettered coin from any point in the history of coinage where the lettering orientation was identical for every coin struck, always A but never B.
Yes he's correct - check U.S. mint pres. one dollar S type all are exactly same position, so it's not at random on them only the p and d. So I guess it's all which way they produce them. If in a hurry for mass production they probably don't care as much but on the proofs they're more specific to where edging should be. So I'd say circulated coins could be each way but proofs are all done the same. So it is possible to make them all start and end in exact position.
Engraved with date and both mottos Positions A and B on Presidential and Sacagawea Dollars... The major grading services recognize the up or down orientation of the edge lettering on Presidential Dollars and Sacagawea Dollars, as follows: POSITION A - Edge lettering reads upside-down when the President's portrait faces up POSITION B - Edge lettering reads normally when the President's portrait faces up
