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Jay

Coins With Mistakes (aka Error Coins)

a-coin-question.jpgWe've gotten quite a few questions about mistakes on coins lately. Here are a couple...

Hi. I have a one sided roosevelt dime. It has a torch on one side the face side is blank." --Pete
I received a dime at a quiznos the other day. It is a 1943 mercury dime on front and the size of a dime. I do not know a lot about coins. However the back of the silver dime was the same as a wheat penny. Is this common. again Mercury dime on front wheat penny on back." -- Jim

Answer below...

The Value Of Coins With Mistakes

What Jim and Pete have here are "error coins".

Millions of coins are released each year by the mints, so it is no wonder that a few abnormal coins slip by inspection and out into population.

These abnormal or misshaped coins are called misstrikes and errors. Error coins are highly collectible and usually command a lot higher price than if the coin were struck normally.

However, it is difficult to put a value on coins such as these since nearly every misstruck or error coin is unique in some way or another.

The best way to get the most money for an error coin would be at a public coin auction, or Ebay where 'error variety collectors' can bid against one another.

There are several varieties of errors. Some of them include:

Clipped Planchet -- An incomplete coin missing 10% to 25% of the metal.

Multiple Strike -- A coin with at least one additional image from being struck again off-center.

Blank Planchet -- A blank disc of metal that was intended to be made into a coin but never got struck by dies.

Defective Die -- A coin showing raised metal from a large crack in the die.

Off Center -- A coin that has been struck out of collar and incorrectly centered with part of the design missing.

Lamination -- A flaw where a fragment of metal has peeled off of the coin's surface.

Wrong Planchet -- A coin struck on a planchet intended for another denomination or of the wrong metal.

See pictures of some of these error varieties.

Other Types Of Error Coins

There are other errors as well for modern coins that have been clad or plated wrong -- which explains why some of the people posting have "gold looking" coins that shouldn't look gold.

These normally aren't worth very much. I am not a huge expert on all the types of error coins, but generally for an error coin to be worth big bucks it would be one that you look at and immediately think "Wow, that's messed up." LOL




31 Comments

paul

i have a dime thats ben printed 4 or 5 drifrent times whith
heads and tails on booth sides 4 or 5 drifrent times you can look at it on ether side and see front and back whats it worth.

chris

my dad found a penny that is about as big as a dime and it has a lip on it and also u can hardley see the date is it worth anything

Belinda

I have a dime that has no face, is it worth anything?

mike popelka

I have a 1979 Susan B Anthony dollar the head is upside down when you flip it from side to side, is this supposed to be that way or is it an error?

nile

A 1909-S VDB with the reverse being upside down (opposite of other wheat pennies

Elizabeth

i have a dime that is missing the last numer of the date. it says 196- . is this worth anything?

james

i have a 1982 d penny without the copper plating, does it have any value

Nick

I think I also found a penny of this sort can you or any one tell me what its worth or where to find what its worth, 1983 D silver pennie

Stephanie

I found a 1991 penny. to the right of Lincoln's face are 3 oval shaped rings. They start in the word "trust" and end right above the year (91). Is this worth anything??

kathy

I have a roseveltte dime that is in great condition but one of the numbers is missing from the date (the last number). Do you know if it is worth anything?

laura

I have a 2004 P dime. The face side has been deeply imprinted to create a lip around edge. On the back side, only a small circular portion of the of the torch on the back side shows. Any suggestions on price or anything?

lilly gonzales

i have a penny with the date of 194/ the last digit is a diagnal looks like a 1 on the back has the wheat with the one cent in the middle is this worth nething.

cheryl

I have a wheat penny and it is only one sided. It has the back but not the front so I can't tell what year it was made. How can I tell how much this coin is worth? Thank you for your time!

Craig Johns

Hi, I am not sure about how to ask a question here. But, I have found a Roosevelt Dime that is missing the last number in the date. The date is 200_ and has a Philidelphia mint mark on it. There is a very faint mark where the last number should be and looks like it might be a 1. There are no scratch marks indicating the last number being physically removed. I am curious as to any and all information I can find, even value. Thanks

Craig

EL

My son was looking at some coins my grandmother had given me and he found a 1943 Mercury dime with line that almost looks like a fold right on the middle of the reverse side. The prominent "fold" prevents the coin from laying flat on a surface. Has anyone seen this before?

Zen

I have a wheat penny (copper) that is missing the last part of the date, it only says 19. How much is it worth? It is in good to poor condition.

jody aveline

Hi,

I have a 1941 mercury dime yet on the reverse is a wheat penny. The coin looks like it is 90% silver (on the mercury dime sidde) and the reverse (wheat penny side) seems to be about 10% copper when I look at the width of the coin. If I look at the mercury dime side and then directly flip the coin over the wheat penny appears to be printed at like a 45 degree angle offset of the mercury dime on the reverse. Is my coin worth big bucks?

Justine

i found a copper nickel and was wondering if it was worth anything?

jw

My friend found a nickel with jeffersons face on both sides. one side is dated 1975 the other is dated 1976....any idea if it's worth anything? thz

Scott

I have a Washington State quarter 2007 that is misprinted. I think I would categorize it as an off-center but everything is there except for the ridge on one side completely and the die is not centered. What is this worth?

Dave

I found in change a 1983 penny that is dull silver in color (similar to the steel 1943 that has been in circulation), non-magnetic and the lettering appears crisp. At first I thought the copper was chemically removed from a 1983 copper plated cent but the crispness of the lettering and it being non-magnetic leads me to believe otherwise. Any thoughts?

Jay

Oh sorry. I mean no ma'am. LOL

- Jay

Jay

No sir. In fact it's worth less now. There are several several steel wheat cents that people have taken and zinc coated or copper coated to make them either novelties or to purposely decieve others into buying a coin that they will say is the ultra rare 1943 copper cent. Mostly as a novelty item since all you have to do to determine it's an imposter is stick a magnet to it.


- Jay

Olivia

I purchased a 1943-D penny for $10.00. It's a steel penny that's zinc coated. Is this penny worth anything, since it's not copper? A date was punched into the die and then punched in again in a different position, making it is a repunched date.

Jay


Brandon - Broadstike errors are more common and generally only worth a few bucks. The more off-center they're struck the more money they bring on e-bay, usually. Your other error is a little nicer I think. I can't put a deffinate price on error coins but the best thing you can do is research your type of error a bit and list it on e-bay to get a fair price for the coin.

KC - This could be due to a few different reasons. It could be an error, someone could have removed the last digit with an eraser(I hear kids in school used to do this back in the 60's and 70's), or the last digit could have just been worn off over the years. In any of these cases it's not significant and won't be worth much more than a penny.


- Jay

kc

great site...I have a penny that has the mint year 197blank. can you tell me anything about it?

thanks

brandon boyd

i have a "broadstrike" dime.1977. is this a valuable thing? also have a partial blank dime, it has the torch etc. on one side but the face side is smooth with the copper showing through about 40% of the plating.
anyone know of this type of minting error? (disgruntled32@hotmail.com)

Jay


Coins that are errors because they were struck on the wrong metal are one of the better errors. An error like that could sell for between $50 and $100 or possibly more. Although I'm not sure about it being bent and disfigured, that would probably depend on if it was done by the mint or afterwards.


- Jay

david ryan

I have a 1982 penny that has been struck on a nickel blank, the coin is bent and disfigured but very ledgable.

have a nice day.

Jay


Carol - It is hard for anybody to put a price on error coins since alot of them are unique in some way or another. I would say what you should do is to see if you can find a similar type error on E-bay and see what it sells for.

- Jay

carol elliott

I have some mistake coins, {pennies, dimes, nickels}, I want to know the value of. Do you know where I should look to find out?

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