I have been seeing alot of these lately. Is there a reason why? Is some one making them in the back room?
The mint is now waffling coins and blank planchets that are damaged or otherwise not up to standard. I don't know if the mint sells them or how they get to market but they have been showing up the last couple of years. I have bought a couple just as a novelty.
The Mint waffles their reject coins and planchets and send them back to their suppliers for recycling.
Usually they go back to the suppliers, sometimes others do buy the scrap. In either case the scrap and waffled coins belong to the company that buys them. If they decide to sell some into the numismatic market they can do it.
They certainly are unusual. I don't have any, but I may just look around for one or two just for the novelty of owning one. Bruce
My father was a furnace operator at a large metal refinery until he retired in the early 70's. Many times he would bring home scrap cancelled coins that he bought for metal cost. Most were Mexican low percent silver pieces, some other European coins, all were run through a "grinder" that basically left a screw thread pattern across the coin. The refineries typically buy stock from mints, webbing and cancelled coins, and recycle them. Once a refinery buys the scrap, they own it and can do whatever they wish with it. I own many of my Dad's cancelled coins and many modern waffled coins. I think they are cool and will always remember my Dad when I look at them.
