Error Coins Featured in Heritage Showcase Auction October 6

Mint errors — the numismatic byproducts of Murphy’s Law — take center stage again in Heritage Auction’s latest Error Coinage Showcase Auction. Bidding is open now, with the concluding Live Session scheduled for 5:00 PM CT on Wednesday, October 6. All bidding will take place through coins.HA.com.

While coins struck on the wrong planchet are often the highlight of error auctions, this auction contains such a coin that is rarer than most.

Generally, a wrong planchet coin will be struck on a planchet close to the size of the intended coin, usually the same size or slightly smaller. Cents struck on dime planchets are relatively common. Less common is a wrong planchet coin struck on a planchet much smaller than the intended coin, such as a half dollar struck on a cent planchet.

But an error that is almost unheard-of is a coin struck on a planchet larger than the intended coin. A larger planchet won’t make it into the minting machinery during the striking process, so how is such a coin struck?

Regardless of what happened at the Mint, the happy outcome for error coin collectors is that we are able to offer a 2000-(P) cent struck on a clad quarter planchet. Certified by PCGS as MS65, this coin displays the design of the cent struck into the middle of the quarter blank, with a wide space between the design and the edge of the coin. The look is somewhat reminiscent of a counterstamped coin from years past.

Some of the other fascinating error coins featured in this auction are:

• 1942-S Lincoln Cent — Struck on Foreign Planchet — MS62 Brown NGC
• 1958 Lincoln Cent — Double Denomination, Overstruck on 1958 Cuba One Centavo — MS63 NGC
• 2000-P Jefferson Nickel — Overstruck on a 1961 Lincoln Cent, Doubled Denomination — MS64 Red and Brown NGC
• 1951 Franklin Half Dollar — Struck on Silver 25C Planchet — MS65 PCGS
• 196X Franklin Half Dollar — Struck on Cent Planchet — MS64 Brown PCGS
• 1964 Kennedy Half Dollar — Deep Obverse Die Cap — MS64 PCGS

This auction is open for bidding now at Coins.HA.com.