I take it that all of these are actual error coins, and that they wouldn't be classified as PMD but rather Mint damage. Unless PMD literally means damage that occurs any time after the coins were struck, then bag marks would be considered PMD - in contrast, I view PMD as damages occuring after the coins leave the Mint, correct? I believe PSD or post-strike damage is the former, but someone please clarify this for me, as the time between the coin gets struck and when the coin leaves the Mint is in categorical limbo for me. I'm wondering if some of these were wrong planchet, doubled denomination, etc type errors. I guess the defacement mostly eliminates one from finding out. It looks like PCGS, NGC, etc. won't speculate or go further with identifying and labeling these as anything other than a generic "Mint Cancelled". But, if it was a cancelled wrong planchet error, wouldn't that be an incredibly rare example, despite the cancellation mark? I bet some or most of these are more commonly occurring problem coins, such as a terribly worn out die causing die cracked appearances and illegible relief designs. And, I thought they simply melted these down? Though, I guess this is another way for the Mint to make money to offset some of their penny and nickel production losses. Pics from the 'net: This one doesn't look too bad, relatively speaking. If it were a penny planchet... wouldn't that be incredibly rare regardless of its cancellation mark? You can get some exclusively from the Franklin Mint:
That label, is stupid. They are waffled coins of damaged, mistruck, etc. But no one can tell what they were
But couldn't one literally test the metal? I bet jewelers could use their (expensive) metal analyzers, point at each of those slabbed coins, and verify the metal content in seconds (random YouTube video below of metal analyzer). And, if one sees a design that doesn't fit the size for that denomination, that would be consistent with a wrong planchet error (though not sufficient).
In regards to PMD. There is a movement to replace it with PSD (Post Strike Damage). Your question is a prime example of why PMD is being replaced by PSD... for clarification
XRF analysis would nail the planchet composition instantly. I would much prefer to have whatever these were before the cancelling.
Yeah, there are too many unknowns and not enough provenance, as the Mint probably pools all of these cancelled coins together. But, hypothetically speaking, if there's a massive copper-zinc planchet the size of, say, 30mm with a consistent thickness of a half dollar... I'd think there's a good chance that it's a wrong planchet, wrong metal error.
This is why I and a few others use and push PSD (Post Strike Damage) and not PMD. The M in PMD actually stands for MINTING but everyone shortens it to Mint. So PMD really means Post Minting Damage or damage that occurs after the coin is minted. When people call it Post Mint Damage it confuses newbies because it seems to imply damage that occurs after the coin left the Mint and that there fore damage that occurs before it left the mint could be a "mint error" and valuable. If you have a coin with a scratch there is no way to know if that scratch happened before or after it left the mint. But if you describe it as Post STRIKE Damage it is clear that it happened after the coin was struck, and that is is just damage. And yes bag marks are actually PSD. The mints no longer have their own melting facilities, they got rid of the last one back in the late 70's. Since then all strip or planchets have come from outside suppliers. The mint does do a lot of their own blanking and the strip webbing and mis-struck coins were then sold as scrap metal. Usually it was bought back by the same firms that supplied the strip and it was melted down and converted into more strip. There was a problem though transporting the scrap back to the buyers. The mis-struck coins were still coins! This meant that Mint security had to accompany the scrap until it was melted down. So the Mint got the waffler. Waffled coins were no longer coins and the security was no longer needed. Of course since the scrap belonged to the buyers it was just a matter of time until waffled coins started appearing in the marketplace.
What if the planchet is scratched before getting struck? That sort of damage wouldn't be a PMD but rather a pseudo- or quasi error, whereby the devices would be sharp but the scratched portion would have the relief start at a lower base, right? What is this called, a "Damaged Planchet"?
NGC labels some of these as "Waffle Cancelled" and others as "Mint Cancelled". They all look like they've been through the waffler, though.
It would have to be a pretty heavy scratch to survive the striking process (see early US coinage with adjustment marks) And yes it would be refered to as being struck on a defective planchet
Are the planchets in a more maleable state as they get punched out of the sheets? Not sure what the heat treatment process is for coins at that point.
The rolling of the strip work hardens the metal as does the upsetting of the edge. the planchets have to be annealed to soften them before they are struck.
