Off Center Coinage
An off center happens during the striking portion of the minting process. Off centers occur when a coin is placed in the retaining collar incorrectly, and the planchet is struck from an unintended odd angle, resulting in a half coin, half planchet look. Off centers (and broadstrikes) can not commonly be found in rolls because of their un-circular shape. These coins leave the mint in bags when they slip out undetected, and enter general commerce.
Off center values range from the coin, to the metal, to the degree of center, among other factors. If you can see the date within the struck portion, that adds value. Also, if the off center is from 2002 onward, it is actually worth more because the mints updated their detection equipment then, so errors from then onwards have more value because there are less of them. It is little known that towards the back of the Red Book, there is a section on mint errors, as well as a general price guide. I would consult there for general pricing of off centers and other related error coins.
Comments
AC Coin$🌎
Level 6
Nice short blog . Intersting .
Longstrider
Level 6
I love these varied error coins. All different, more or less. Thanks.
slybluenote
Level 5
This is a good informative post! Thanks for sharing!
Mike
Level 7
There is no quality control for business strikes. That's how they get by
CheerioCoins
Level 5
Nice short blog! I love all kinds of off center coinage. Very nice errors. Thank for the blog!
It's Mokie
Level 6
The pictured coin is a most spectacular error, I wonder too how something like this gets through the tightening net of controls. Sometimes I wonder if a mint employee just tosses a few back just to amuse themselves. It would be roughly akin to my first real job at Arby's in downtown Pittsburgh. Once in a while during the lunch rush we would put out a super sized roast beef sandwich in a regular wrapper so some lucky soul got a bonus samich.
Kepi
Level 6
Interesting subject! I too, like LongBeard wondered how these strikes make it out of the Mint! ; )
thatcoinguy
Level 5
Probably through bags of coins, vs the regular rolls.
Long Beard
Level 5
I wondered, on the more modern strikes, how they escaped detection especially with computer and laser detection. Thanks for educating the old guy!
thatcoinguy
Level 5
No problem!