U.S. Large Cent Error?

Hello Everyone.

A friend of mine showed me an item he picked up recently and was asking me if it is a mint error. If so he is interested in having it slabbed.

Let me know what you all have to say about it and whether you think it is a mint error or PMD.




Thank You.

 

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Weight? Need to know that first. Yes. Have it slabbed. Although, others will tell you not to. I think you need to pay for a learning moment here or there. Send it to ANACS or ICG. They are less expensive alternatives to the big two.

 

It is impossible for a coin to be struck with out both dies set in there respective chambers.

 

Hard to know how this could happen...really need the weight.

 

Pretty much not possible, even if there was a second planchet in the chamber the blank side would retain some evidence of that strike. Pretty sure weighing it will show it well under weight, but that is just a guess without enough information

 

Looks like the metal was perfectly stripped off the reverse.I Don't think this is possible to occur at the mint.Damaged but still has sharp detail for the obverse and doesn't appear to be an 1851/81.@paddyman98

 

Not possible, sorry

 

no way that is mint error. That was worn down accidently (being caught in a moving device for long period of time) or someone did that on purpose, why would be the good question. For sure PMD.

 

I know guys. Maybe it was going to be a Love token and the relationship didn't work out.

 

Thank you everyone for your responses on this. I agree with the idea of PMD on this piece. I am to meet with the owner of this piece tomorrow and will break it to him gently (while it says $100 on the 2x2, he says he paid $400 for it). If I am able to, I will try to weigh the piece to let you all know. Again, thank you.

 

Hello again everyone. Just finishing off this thread. I met with the owner of the piece mentioned and was able to weigh it. The proper weight should be 10.89 grams, whereas this piece weighed only 9.26 grams. After taking the coin out of the 2x2 I was able to view the edge and could tell the thickness was off and evidence of tooling resulting in the smooth reverse. The owner says he will use it as a conversation piece and will try to do more research before purchasing an item that "seems to good to be true".

Thank you all.

 

Thanks @StevenHarden for following up. So many times on CT this doesn't happen. Wow...that turned out to be an expensive conversation piece. If it were me, I would go back at the person who sold it as a "mint error."

Steve

 

Not so! If two blanks enter the coining chamber, each gets an impression from a single die. I have seen two full-weight US large cents (owned one of them) that are real uniface -- see picture.

 

$400, did he get a bag of chips with it...

 

John, you know more about large cents than I ever will, but if two Type Two planchets, with upset rims, were to enter the coining chamber at the same time, as could happen, I would not expect the opposing blank sides to come out of the strike perfectly flat. In the flattening out of the upset rims I would expect some wavy distortions elsewhere.
TD

 

None of the three Large Cents above are 'uniface' strikes.

They've all been machined

 

Thanks for posting the follow up. Nice to know he didn't have a heart attack when he found out. For that price, I think I might have had one.

 

Ouch, I feel for John.

 

Hi. Is it possible to share a link to a photo or diagram of the coining chamber and how/where both dies sit, in relation? Just for my educational purposes. Thank you.

EDIT: I've seen numerous U.S. Mint videos of "How a Coin is Made" but I could never get an appreciation of the actual striking process, in terms of a visualization of what happens in the chamber.

 

REALLY!!!