I don't know if that's the correct term but what I am referring to is regular coins that someone cut a piece out of. The question is, why would this be collectible? I ask because when I am searching bins at the local coin shop, I often see these kinds of coins in there at prices that would seem to indicate there is a premium. I could take a quarter out to the garage and get a wirecutter and hack a piece off - would that make it valuable? Or what am I missing here?
A coin cut with a wire cutter is completely different from a clipped planchet and there are ways to tell the difference.
A clipping planchet is mint damage, when the coin is literally clipped by the machines! That is a pretty cool type of error coin, but I personally have not yet found one that sparked my interest and I'd actually want in my collection.
How to tell if it's real: http://www.fleur-de-coin.com/articles/plancheterrors.asp http://koinpro.tripod.com/Articles/CurvedClipDiagnostics.htm
OK, thanks for the explanation. Are they found in circulation or do people buy them special from the mint or something?
I've found quite a few roll searching. I can get them for a dollar a piece, but some people think they have an expensive error and want a fortune for them. If your putting together a date set you may want to pay a little more because you never know when that date will show up again. A good place to find some are at flea markets in junk boxes...
I will bet you a quarter that you cannot! Try it! First of all, with even a silver coin -- and silver is supposedly a "soft" metal -- the stiking process hardens the coin. Our modern cupro-nickel coins are more like battleship armor. It takes machinery to cut one or cut into one. We have a local coin guy and jeweler who makes engraved thingees. It is work. I tried cutting fake silver dollars for an ANA Theater presentation with the same bolt cutters I used as a security guard to bust Master brand locks. No way. With repeated effort, I cut two before I tired out. This impacts the questions of counterstamps and banker's marks and chop marks. One afternoon, my father-in-law let me play in his workshop (while he watched) and we talked about coins. I used his steel punches the kind machinists use to mark machinery to put his initials on a quarter. Then, he tried it. We tried wood block for backing. We tried steel plates for backing. That, too, reflects on Error Coins and this topic. I have worked in automotive production and I understand the rudiments of factory mint manufacturing. Errors happen. But, often as not, I think that some of these errors are purposely made by employees who shim and jimmy the machines.
