Wearlife
Wearlife. The length of actual use. Dies are said to have a wearlife which is expressed in the number of pieces struck, or could be struck, from a particular die. This is in contrast to a length of calendar time. A die that could strike 50,000 pieces has a wearlife of that length; this could be accomplished in a week's time or extended over several hundred years. Since it is never known in advance when a die will break, wearlife is an accurate term applied to that number of pieces a die has indeed struck; it is a tenuous term for a fresh, unused die.
excerpted with permission from
An Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Technology
For Artists, Makers, Collectors and Curators
COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY D. WAYNE JOHNSON
Roger W. Burdette, Editor