88 years ago Brasil (engl., Brazil) celebrated the 100th Anniversary of its independence from Portugal. President Epitacio Pessoa pressed the idea that a special commemorative coin be struck for the occasion. He further suggested that the coin bear the likeness of Emperor Pedro I who proclaimed the country's independence in 1822. In conference with the mint's director they decided the 100 Reis would be the proper denomination coin for the event. The Director of Brasil's mint made another decision on his own, to not only put Pedro I on the obverse of the coin, but add President Pessoa's likeness. Somehow, the mint's engraver blundered and a minting run of the coin produced an unusual error. The country's legend (name) was struck as "BBASIL" instead of "BRASIL." If you have the correct spelling coin, you still need the error coin. Here's a photo of the coin with the correct spelling courtesy of Coins & Stamps: http://www.coinsandstamps.com/foreigncoins/Foreign Coins/Brazil/fc12008.htm Here's a photo of the error courtesy of Joels Coins: http://www.joelscoins.com/images/brazil522r.jpg Thought you'd like to know... Clinker
Here is an enlarged image (from an auction) of an error piece: http://user.img.todaoferta.uol.com.br/F/C/WM/ACF2SK/1248493327277_bigPhoto_1.jpg Interesting, Clinker. In the recent case of those "Chiie" coins from Chile, it was easy to see how an existing horizontal line got accidentally removed, turning an L into a I. But making a B instead of an R takes more, I think. Christian
