I was looking through some old proof sets for errors a while back and I initially found a 1971-S Proof cent DDO so I cracked the set open to get it and when I was carding up the rest of the coins, I discovered this rather intriguing nickel. I have never seen anything quite like this before! I don't know what kind of error you would even call this. There seems to be a raised partial U (or other partial letter or design element) in the middle of the second U in UNUM on the reverse! The closest error that best describes it to me would be a "dropped letter error". Everybody usually pays more attention to the obverse on their 1971 proof nickels hoping to find the “No S“ variety and most people probably just glance at the reverse at best. To me it seems to be a die issue of some sort, if so, there should be more of these out there somewhere!!! I'm hoping someone else has found one and can tell me exactly what I have here and it's rarity. Any and all information will be greatly appreciated! Thanks! JDRMCB
I'm not quite sure what I am seeing. Is the anomaly inside the "U" raised or recessed? The first close-up of "NUM" doesn't look anything like the second close-up of "NUM". What gives?
Proof coins usually have minor strike through issues. As asked before does it look incused into the field?
To me it looks as though it could be struck through part of a dropped character, but i don't see anything in the design that matches it closely enough to draw such a conclusion.
Sorry for not responding sooner guys, but I posted this thread before I pulled 2 -16 hr shifts at work in he ER. Yes, the anomaly inside the uprights of the second U in UNUM is definitely raised and not incuse, so that rules out a strike through. As for the second image of that area, I used a filter I found on an app that I thought would show more depth of field and how similar the anomaly appeared to be to the other surrounding devices. This is a naked eye visible anomaly on a proof coin from the early 70’s when quality control was much more stringent and hands on at the mint than it is today. That’s what I find amazing about it. I’ll post a few more pics of it in a few from a different angles.
Based on the photo, I believe there's a good chance it's a very small flake of metal that fell on the coin after it was struck, and stuck on the coin till the sealing operation. Does not look like a die gouge at all, imo
What about a hub through error that went unnoticed and hub was used to produce a single working die that struck a few proofs before it was discovered and pulled, along with as many of the coins they could find that had already been struck??? That scenario would produce an extra raised line like on the 1971-S Proof Eisenhower dollar aka "Night Crawler", with a raised line of metal near talon, right?
Personally I need regular images, not thumbnails so I can enlarge them. I also see an anomaly on the O in "GOD" I think, die chip maybe. Id like to get a closer look at all of "EPU" really