Are you sure you don't mean early 60's? Because by the EARLY 1970's BU 55 DDO were worth way more than $50 each.
There are a few of these out there and one of them coming within 5% of lining up is not that surprising. It is more likely that the coin was just thrown into the planchets and left up to chance. However it is also possible that it was genuinely accidental. Either way, amazing coin.
Rick Snow posted this link on the CU forum to another one of these errors - this one is MS67 but the portraits are not aligned like mine is. It sold in May for over $1,600 (not including the 15% buyer's fee). http://heritageauctions.blogspot.com/2009/05/its-cent-its-dime-its-11-cent-piece.html Intentionally made or not, it doesn't matter to me - it is an extremely rare and impressive error that I am very happy to have in my collection!
Pretty as can be, thanks for sharing. I believe Heritage has a few of these in an upcoming sale - or I've missed it. I wasn't paying much attention to the date.
Great coin you've got there. Who cares how it was made as long as it is authentic. PCGS says it's real, then it's real. They wouldn't authenticate it if there was any doubt about it. Bruce
I once had a triple saddle struck cent (1964) where three pennies were sort of squished together into one large coin probably the size of a half dollar, forming a saddle in between them. It was a known intentional error, and the story goes that the mint worker who made them in 1964 and 1965 was arrested and thrown into prison. This error was graded (MS65 I think) and authenticated by NGC, so even intentional errors can be certified. Boy I sure loved that coin since, being a pretty modern coin, most of them are usually full red (I've seen them in Fred Weinberg's case), but the one I had was unique in that it was a beautiful lustrous glowing brown with tinges of golden red highlights, that's why I liked it so much. I used to keep it in my show case because it attracted so much attention. I paid about $500 for it and when people asked me for a price, I would jokingly say $1,000 because I didn't really want to sell it. However, one day, a guy whipped out $1,000 and bought it. Boy, I hated parting with that pretty penny trio and still wish I had it, but at least it went to someone who really appreciated it as much as I did! I hope to one day find another one.
Cool as the other side of the pillow. I don't collect errors, but I would buy that coin in a heartbeat. Great coin and great addition. BRAVO!
Looks like a keeper, did you get that before or after we talked at the show? Looking forward to seeing it at Santa Clara.
Congrats, Charmy ! Truly a coin of distinction. Or, as Monty Python once said about Eric the Halibut - "Not like the others. The others were too flat !"
Thanks everyone, I appreciate all the kudos, and yes, it's definitely a keeper. I got it on Sunday - I certainly would have showed this little guy off if I had it when you were there! But I will have it at the ANA if anyone wants to see it in hand!
These do happen occasionally. They are not done on purpose. The scenario of a struck dime getting mixed in with planchets for cents is encountered more often than one might think. Double denomination errors are a known error type. This one is a cent struck over a dime. The orientation of obverse and reverse is indeed a fifty/fifty chance. The coin being overstruck has to fit between the second set of dies so a smaller coin is always overstruck by dies intended to strike a larger coin. Examples would be a cent overstruck by nickel dies, or a quarter overstruck by half dollar dies, etc. The coin at the beginning of the thread is a very nice one! Thanks