two headed nickel

I found a two headed nickle in change today. It is dated 1997 on one side and 2002 on the other. My question is; is this coin a true error or something probably manufactured as a novelty, it appears real in size and weight.

 

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novelty, do a search

 

Welcome to the forum. Here is a link that talks about two headed-tailed coins. LINK

Charlie

 

Thanks

Thanks for the really quick reply to my question. I didn't think 2 headed/tailed coins were 'natural' errors. Thanks for the info and links.

 

With current US mint technology two-headed or two-tailed coins are impossible, because the obverse and reverse dies are keyed to only fit a certain way.

There have been a few genuine two-tailed quarters found, minted circa 1965. They are extrememly rare, I think only 2 or 3 have been found and confirmed to be genuine. I think I heard there was a two-tailed dime found once and a two-headed coin minted for the Phillipines, but not entirely sure on the details.

 

Well let me correct "impossible" to "almost impossible" lol. With existing equipment it would require one of the dies to be keyed wrong, for the error in keying the die not to get noticed, and for quality control to miss the error after coins had been stamped before it had a chance to leave the Mint. Odds would be nearly astronomical. However... a mule where a qaurter obverse was accidentally used on Sacagaweas did manage to leave the mint in 2000... the error was caught but 3 coins were discovered that managed to get out of the Mint.

So far only 4 US two-tailed coins have been discovered and authenticated (3 qaurters and a dime) but there have been a few world coins discovered with two heads or two tails. Still it's an extremely rare occurence.

 

Well, even if mint technology doesn't allow two head/tailed coins, that doesn't stop coins from being made that have an obverse and reverse from 2 different coins... like a Washington state quarter obverse combined with a Sacegewea dollar reverse...

 

What about the different dates?

It's made from 2 nickels, as a novelty, sort of a coin to always win a coin flip with.

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