hey fellas, I WILL be posting a picture just as soon as Im able to access my scanner; so untill then, a colorful description is all I have to offer. A buddy of mine asked me to take a look through a handfull of loose coins that he had sitting around, and I came accross a nice error. Its a 1984 D Kennedy Half Dollar in excellent condition with only minor smoothing on his hair/face and 1 or 2 small knicks n scratches near his ear. Now, using the obverse as a starting point of reference, and the "E" in liberty representing the "12 o'clock" position,... when the coin is flipped over to its reverse side, the "12 o'clock" position of the eagle is now currently pointing to the "2, almost 3 o'clock" position. Its rotated about a 1/4 of a turn clockwise. Im just curious as to the usual questions: rarity? how big of a mistake is it? value? ..any other info? -thanx in advance
OK, I'll try this again. The rotated die coin census calls this a rarity 7 (4-12 known). It comes with a 180 degree rotation so this is likely an intermediate stage.
"The rotated die coin census calls this a rarity 7 (4-12 known). It comes with a 180 degree rotation so this is likely an intermediate stage." Im sorry, but I dont know what any of this means. Im an avid fan of numismatics, but I havent gotten quite far enought to understand all of the terms and references. i.e. what is a "Rarity 7", an "interemediate stage", and how do you go about determining wheather its a "180 degree", or "X-degree" rotation? I should clearify how I went determining the "12 oclock & 3 oclock" points of reference.; When holding the coin upright, (obverse facing me), I turned the coin to the reverse side by way of a verticle flip, as opposed turning it around in a left-to-right motion. Is all of this worth looking further into, or should I move on? Ive gotten my scanner hooked up, but have work, so will post the pics in a few hours. thanx again!
It means the coin is a very expensive one, and is about a 90 degree rotation. The intermediate stage means as the die rotated in its collar it struck coins, yours happened when it roughtly twisted 90 degrees on its way to 180. Hope this helps...Mike
Leadfoot got it right. When a obverse (hammer die) (top or moving die) comes loose it will usually settle into a position where it's almost exactly upside down. This is called 180 degree rotation since that's the total amount it has moved. It will sometimes take a while to get to this position and will be striking coins the whole way. Usually anything more than about 30 degrees is condidered highly collectible. There are huge numbers of modern varieties in change because all these coins were ignored until recently. Just because the authors are aware of only 4 to 12 coins doesn't mean there can't be tens of thousands more in circulation. Incredibly there are some varieties which are very scarce above F or VF yet are common in circulation. There are some which probably don't even exist in unc.
Judicata, Be wary of a box coin, sometimes referred to as an opium coin. What occurs is that a jeweler (with extremly fine tools) will cut along the inner rim of the coin so the face will pop out and then can be replaced. You can barely see the cut and tell the coin opens. The only reason I mention this is becuase there is possibility that's what you have (since a rotated die is so rare). The face may have been put in rotated. The best way to tell is to weigh the coin. A box coin will weigh less. You may also be able to tell by the sound it makes when dropped on table. It will sound a little different that a normal coin.
As much as I hoping that cladking or leadfoot might be right, jimmy-bones hit the nail on the head. After a much more accute inspection of it, I found a very, very thin seam around the inner edge of the reverse rim. Maybe I just never bother checking, or didnt know to, but after dropping it on a table, I noticed that it sounded more like a frozen pizza than a coin Well, no pain, no gain! Thanx for all the info guys, hope I can return the favor.
