I was scanning a couple of coins over the weekend and thought it might be worthwhile to show examples of both types of elliptical clips. There seems to be confusion, even among some graders. The first is the classic "football" shaped coin. These planchets are produced due to an error in the cutting process and then struck like a regular coin. This 1966 quarter is one of my favorites: The second type, as far as I know, is only known on coins from the early 90s and would be classified as a variety of a "stiff collar" error. These coins would be standard off-center strikes, but they were sheared off in the striking process leaving a coin of less the full weight and somewhat oval shaped. The most common name is "Elliptical Strike Clip". This 1992-D is not the best example, as it is only about 8% underweight, but I've found good examples to be very hard to locate, even though they are not particularly expensive. I hope these examples might create some interest and eliminate confusion. o.e.g.
Since the US Mint has outsourced their planchets, they have become increasingly scarce. They were always somewhat difficult to find and those with a true "football" shape very hard to locate. I hate to use the word "rare", but if it were not an error with the very small collector base, I would think the word might be appropriate.
The 1992d cent looks as if the collar had split, and the metal over flowed out. I could be wrong. On the 1966 Qt, not sure on this one. If coined on a defective large planchet, then in would have been not fed into the stamping area dies. It would have had to be smaller than the regular planchet. I feel that it's PMD.
They are both, unequivocally, as stated. The cent is underweight, as it should be and is a classic strike elliptical clip. The quarter was smaller, as any elliptical blank is, and fits comfortably in the chamber. Not that a TPG can't be wrong, but it is certified and has passed through the hands of several experts. The metal flow shows as it should.
