PART VI. Striking Errors:

Striking Errors:

Split or Torn in Two by Struck Through Object

Definition: The term “struck-through” (or struck-through) is a non-specific label for a coin that is struck through just about anything – grease, debris, plastic, metal fragments, etc. Strike-throughs that involve large, thick, solid objects are rarer and more desirable than other types. Rarest of all are coins that are actually torn asunder when a foreign object is struck into them.

Key diagnostics for a coin torn apart by a foreign object are as follows:

A deficit with an irregular shape.
The edge of the deficit slopes outward toward the opposite face.
The vertical cross-sectional profile of the pinched-off edge is either straight or concave.
The sloping face ends in a knifelike edge.
The design on the opposite face continues right up to the sharp edge without any sign of weakness.

This 1995 cent was split down the middle by a thick, angular object. It may have been a piece of hardware or a broken
machine part.

Photos courtesy of Rich Schemmer.

This off-center 1982 cent was struck through a threaded bolt on the left side. The left side of the coin was pinched off and lost as a result of the impact.

Coin courtesy of Sean Reynolds.