I have taken part in discussions from time to time, but after a 2-3 month hiatus from Cointalk, I am once again an active reader, and am making my first post. Please bear with me as I attempt to show 3 images. I got this 1860 Indian cent from a dealer’s junk box 3-4 years ago. At the time while just looking at the coin without a loupe I thought it to be post mint damage and I wanted it to go in a somewhat eclectic collection of mutilated and error coins I was playing with at the time. Only recently I have made a closer inspection and found it to be a most unusual minting error. Apparently, the missing strip of metal was on the blank planchet, for part of the design – namely the date, point of the neck and UD of UNITED was stamped when the die hit the blank planchet with a single strike – note all the rest of the obverse is normal and the date and rest of the details in the gouged out area are in the proper place. This was not a double strike. The only indication of this error on the reverse is the slightly flattened out area of the shield. Has anyone seen anything like this? I have been collecting (off and on) for over 50 years and have never seen or read about anything like this. And any idea of what the value may be, as it is probably a unique piece? Thanks Greg M.
Thanks, Pickin - yes, now that you say that, it makes sense that someone could have beaten down the metal here which would keep the date and UN in place. Thanks!
