Errors & Varieties: Reviewing Error Coins

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1952 Franklin Half Dollar with 1% curved clip.

By Edward Van Orden - October 10, 2024
Original link: https://www.pcgs.com/news/reviewing-error-coins

An error coin is a mistake made during one or more stages of the minting process, whether it be misshapen, have a crack due to a broken die, or exhibit a partial image. Finding an error coin can stimulate curiosity regarding how coins are made. In this article, we will highlight an example made at each stage of the minting process.

In the planchet-producing area, for example, the metal can be improperly alloyed, the metal strip from which blanks are punched can be the wrong thickness, and/or the blank or planchet could be incomplete.

An example of a coin struck on an incomplete planchet is this 1952 Franklin Half Dollar (above). Notice the curve of missing metal at the two o’clock position. When the blank was punched, it happened in an area of the metal strip that had already been cut or punched. The proof is found at the deformed rim opposite the missing metal. When the blank moved through the upset mill to have its edge raised, this part of the rim did not properly raise. Although the understanding of the “Blakesley Effect” proves the planchet was originally incomplete, this type of error is usually attributed by the misnomers “clipped planchet” or “curved clip.”

In the design and die-making area of the minting process, both errors and varieties can occur but at different stages. Die varieties are produced, for example, when different mintmark styles are used across multiple dies. Die-state varieties also occur as design details weaken due to die wear.

1982-P Jefferson Nickel with a cud die break from the collection of legendary error expert Fred Weinberg.

Die errors, however, happen when the dies begin to break down. An example is this 1982-P Jefferson Nickel. What started as an edge-to-edge crack eventually became a piece of the die that broke off and fell away. When the broken die struck this planchet, the metal flowed into the void left by the missing piece, forming a “cud.” Consequently, the image on the opposite side of the coin is also compromised due to the lack of pressure on the metal.

The most eye-catching of all error coins are those created during the striking area. Examples of these are off-center strikes (resulting in a partial image), multiple strikes (multiple partial images), and multiple planchets struck at the same time (with each planchet sharing the image).

1886 Morgan Dollar with obverse die cap.

One of the most dramatic and famous striking errors is this 1886 Morgan Dollar die cap. Normally, a planchet is fed into the coinage chamber, struck between the upper “hammer” die and lower “anvil” die, and then pushed out. This 1886 Morgan Dollar, however, involved a previously struck planchet getting stuck to the lower die. When the next planchet entered the chamber, it ended up on top of the remaining coin. This planchet was then struck by the obverse die and pressed against the obverse of the stuck coin multiple times. The result? A “cap”-looking coin with Liberty’s head on the obverse and its incuse image (known as a “brockage”) on the reverse. This die cap, a specimen from the famous Amon Carter Collection and graded MS64 by PCGS, sold for $160,312 in January of 2022.

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