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Stutter Strike Type III

Part VI. Striking Errors:

Stutter Strikes:

Type III Stutter Strike

Definition: A stutter strike occurs when the hammer die makes transient contact with a planchet without there being any resistance provided by the anvil die.  Resistance is provided by other means.  After the initial light contact, the hammer die completes its downstroke in a position medial to the site of original contact.  The stutter strike is restricted to a thin outlying crescent that is sharply demarcated from the adjacent complete design.  Directly opposite the stutter strike, on the face struck by the anvil die, the original surface of the planchet persists unaltered.

The rarest form of stutter strike is the Type III stutter strike.  It occurs when a bent, folded, or crumpled planchet or coin is present in the striking chamber.  The deformation of the disc can occur before, during, or between strikes.  If the bent disc is rendered unstable while sitting on a flat surface, it can tilt and slide sideways during initial contact with the hammer die.  A Type III stutter strike can occur on either face.

A Type III stutter strike can form on the face struck by the hammer die when a severely bent planchet enters the striking chamber or when a bend forms in a coin during an initial strike.  The descending hammer die contacts the apex of the bend while the planchet rests on two points at opposite poles.  This makes for a very unstable situation.  After initial contact, the wobbly planchet slides out of the way, carrying the initial point of contact out beyond the boundaries of the striking chamber. A Type III stutter strike can form on the face struck by the anvil die if an unstable point of contact lies near the margin of the die face.

More information on this error type can be found in the December 28, 2009 and August 26, 2013 Coin World.

This 1998 cent started out as an edge strike.  In other words, the planchet was struck while standing or spinning on-edge.  The initial impact bent the planchet in the middle, but the planchet slipped before it could be folded over completely to form a foldover strike.  As the hammer die’s downstroke continued, the bent planchet was supported at two points located at opposite poles on the planchet’s edge while the convex surface of the bend faced toward the hammer die.  As the hammer die continued its descent, it contacted the apex of the bend, generating the upper parts of the letters “ST” (of TRUST).  This brief impact caused the planchet to shift sideways, carrying these partial letters beyond the die face.  The completion of the hammer die’s downstroke produced an off-center strike with an edge strike at 10:00 and a paraxial foldover strike at 4:00.  That highly asymmetrical foldover strike takes the form of a flap of metal embedded in the reverse face.

01a_TIII_stutter_stk_10c_obv01b_TIII_stutter_stk_10c_rev 02_TIII_stutter_stk_10c_close

This dime planchet entered the striking chamber with a long tear or fissure in it.  One edge of the fissure rode over the other edge.  The overlapping edges of the fissure were pressed against each other when the planchet was struck off-center.  The initial impact of the reverse (anvil) die generated a partial set of letters (“ONE”) on the lower of the two telescoped surfaces.  Increasing striking pressure caused the edges to flatten out and separate, carrying the partial letters beyond the edge of the anvil die.  Completion of the strike generated a normal off-center strike above the partial letters.  This off-center strike is also a chain strike.

Stutter Strike

Part VI. Striking Errors:

Stutter Strikes

Definition: A stutter strike occurs when the hammer die makes transient contact with a planchet without there being any resistance provided by the hammer die.  Resistance is provided by other means.  After the initial light contact, the hammer die completes its downstroke in a position medial to the site of original contact.  The stutter strike is restricted to a thin outlying crescent that is sharply demarcated from the adjacent complete design.  Directly opposite the stutter strike, on the face struck by the anvil die, the original surface of the planchet is persists unaltered.

There are three types of stutter strikes which are not closely related to each other except with respect to the final outcome:

Type I.  Here the resistance is provided at one pole by a stiff but still somewhat mobile collar.  It’s surmised that the die or die assembly has to be loose as well because stiff collar errors are common but stutter strikes are not.

Type II. In this form of stutter strike, one pole of a planchet is tipped up into the path of the descending hammer die by an intrusive object at the opposite pole (typically a coin or a planchet).  The upwardly-tilted portion of the planchet makes brief contact with the hammer die before it is pushed laterally beyond the boundaries of the striking chamber by the prematurely expanding metal at the opposite pole.  The hammer die completes its descent in a position medial to the point of initial contact.

Type III.  In this, the rarest form of stutter strike, the resistance is provided by the planchet itself, when that planchet is significantly bent or warped.  Initial contact is made at the apex of the bend at which point the unstable planchet slides to one side.  The hammer die completes its downstroke in a position just medial to the initial point of contact.
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Rockwell Test Mark In Planchet

Part V: Planchet Errors:

Pre-strike Damage:

Rockwell test mark in planchet


Definition: A Rockwell hardness tester is used to measure the hardness of metals in the U.S. Mint. It measures the depth of penetration of a steel or diamond-tipped pin relative to the applied force.

When applied to a planchet, the Rockwell test mark will appear as a small circular pit with a smooth floor.  Such planchets are supposed to be discarded. If a planchet with a Rockwell test mark is struck by coinage dies, the pit is not erased. The pit’s original circular outline may, however, be distorted into a slight oval as the coin expands beneath the impact of the dies.

Depicted below is a 1971-S cent with a Rockwell test mark on the reverse face, above and to the right of Lincoln’s statue. This coin falls in with expectations derived from sparse written sources.

This particular example was authenticated by “Lonesome” John Devine and is convincing. The floor of the cup-shaped depression is completely smooth, as would be expected of a dimple produced by a pin tipped by a small steel ball. Although there is no metal flow in the design bordering the crater, there is also no trace of a pressure ridge, indicating that the defect was present before the strike. The pit is oval, rather than circular, but this can be attributed to distortion produced by the strike.

All alleged Rockwell test marks in planchets are now considered suspect, including the 1971-S cent described above.

This pit has a smooth floor and oval shape. It was long assumed that the originally circular outline was altered by the strike, but I now see this as unlikely. First of all, the pit is near the center of the coin, where converging lines of radial tensile stress meet and where radial expansion would have been limited. Second, the pit’s long axis is oriented north-south, instead of oriented toward 12:15. Third, the pit’s long axis overlies and is aligned with a Memorial column. Coin metal rising into a column recess would also have flowed toward the pit, shrinking the circle’s north-south diameter.

This pit, and others like it, may represent the impressions of spherical pellets that fell onto the coin metal strip and were stretched out during rolling. They also might be the impressions of oblong objects that were struck into the coins and then fell out.

Rockwell1971Scent

Part XI. Non Errors:


Counterfeit Coins

Fabricated or Altered Errors

Enhanced Errors (genuine errors that are subsequently modified)

Damaged Coins

  • Chemical corrosion
  • Environmental discoloration and corrosion
  • Crushed
  • Bent
  • Impact damage
  • Stacked coins crushed and fused in equipment


Green lettering – major heading

Blue lettering – link to subject matter

Brown lettering – subject matter covered under that heading

Black lettering – no entry yet

Canadian Assisted Errors

PART V. Planchet Errors:

Wrong Planchet & Off-metal Errors:

Struck on Larger Planchet or Coin:

Canadian “Assisted” Errors

Definition: An assisted error is one that had a helping hand from inside the Mint.  The assist could occur at any stage in the minting process and may simply involve the intentional release or smuggling-out of an accidental error.  A subcategory is the “intentional error” which is a coin both intentionally fabricated and smuggled out.  It is also possible for a mint employee to intentionally create an error as a lark, with the coin leaving in a shipment of ordinary coins.

Assisted errors are not to be confused with coins or planchets manipulated outside the mint. Assisted errors are genuine mint products and carry a hefty premium.  Coins altered outside the mint are worthless.

The Royal Canadian Mint has been the source of many assisted errors.  The peak year seems to be 1978.

Click HERE for more information concerning assisted errors.

This 1974 Canada Olympic commemorative silver five dollar coin was later struck with 1978 Canada cent dies. This mint error undoubtedly required an assist from the press operator.

Images are courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

1883 Liberty Head Nickel With And Without The Word “cents”

PART I. Die Subtypes:

Mid-year Design Modifications:

1883 Liberty Head Nickel; with and without the word

“CENTS”

Definition: After 17 years, the Shield nickel (1866 to 1883) was changed to the Liberty Head type nickel design by Charles Barber. The design for the new nickel can be seen below in the first set of images.  This new nickel was released to the public on February 1st, 1883.

Almost immediately a problem arose with the new design. The omission of the word “CENTS” on the reverse led some unscrupulous persons to add reeding to the coin and then plate the coin in gold. It was then passed off to the unwary as a $5.00 gold piece, which had a similar diameter (21.6 mm) to that of the nickel (21.2 mm).

These altered nickels became known as “Racketeer” nickels.  Whether Barber intentionally omitted the word cents (following the design of the nickel three cent piece which was still in production in 1883) or simply forgot to add that word to the reverse design is unknown. However, the production of the new nickel was halted and Barber re-designed the reverse, this time including the word cents.

After a short delay in production, the Liberty Head nickel was again re-introduced to the public on June 26th, 1883. This design change caused the 1883 Liberty Head nickel without the word cents to be hoarded by the public, which thought that the government might recall that particular coin.

The change of design can be seen as an addition of the word CENTS below the bow, the Roman numeral V becoming smaller and the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM being relocated to an area above the wreath.

 

There seems to be little similarity between the designs of the Liberty Head nickel and the 5 dollar gold piece (the latter shown above). However, as mentioned before, the critical similarity may have been the similar diameters.

*** CAUTION ***

True “Racketeers” nickels are in high demand. These coins should be of high grade and always reeded. Beware of reproductions of the “Racketeer” nickel, which are normally found in low to very low grades and with smooth edges (not reeded).

The above image shows a “Racketeers” nickel.

Images are courtesy of Heritage Auctions.