How and Why in the Heck did this happen? 1976 S Nickel struck on Ike planchet.

https://coins.ha.com/itm/errors/197...4.s?type=KMrm-fineart-criteo-segmember-022216

 

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Very easy. Mint Employee assisted!

Notice the label does not state Mint Error

 

how can an Ike planchet fit in a press with a nickel collar?

It can't, can it?

 

If the third die is in place it cannot fit. That would be the Nickel Collar. So it was intentionally struck without the third collar die.

 

I can't see the link, work has it blocked. Forgive me if this is obvious from the photos.

Is it possible that someone put nickel dies in a press and collar set up for Ikes?

 

Being struck without a collar could explain why the design is so weak. But then again why the heck are the surfaces so rough and porous looking. Did the mint empolyee carry it in their pocket for awhile?

 

Better yet, if it was an IKE planchet manually put into a nickel press, why isn't there a reverse impression?

But, whatever. I'm not buying it!

 

If the coin is one-sided, perhaps it is because the planchet wouldn't fit into the press and was only struck by the hammer die

 

metal fabricators use scrap metal to test their die settings. These tests are done at reduced power and if there were a design it would give a weak strike. I assume that similar functions are done by coiners. I know for a fact that plastic tokens are tested with over runs and produce double strikes; mules and other oddities. In a 200,000 piece purchase I found hundreds of these die test pieces. They are now sorted by state and used for gifts and trades @ $5 trade value each.

 

Shennanigans

 

Dang! $13k for a weakly-struck "counterstamp" clad Round blank.

 

It was made the same way any of those other so-called errors were made (such as "dime on nail" and "indian head cent clashed with gold coin"): some bored worker at the mint made it. There is absolutely no way that an Ike planchet can fit into a nickel coining chamber - someone had to do it intentionally.

And thus, this is not an "error." This is an intentional oddity.

 

Yes, when mint workers are setting a new pair of dies, they'll strike test pieces at reduced pressure. These are known as "die adjustment strikes" and are a recognized type of error. Normally, these test pieces are destroyed, but sometimes they escape the mint. The key here is that these are struck on the planchets they are intended for - not some other type of planchet.

The bastardized piece in the original post is not one of these.

 

I have no desire to purchase an "error" that was obviously made on purpose.