Just saw this on eBay and the title says it was thought to be impossible. Is that true? Is this the only known one? PCGS graded and going for $225,000.00 if anyone's interested... http://www.ebay.com/itm/251377244021?roken2=tf.pSEM=.bUFM=.g94.cgplus#prclt-0da9Dp1e
I would think this would have to have been done intentionally by a mint worker. It should certainly command a premium.
Shouldn't it be a nickel color and not a light copper color, since it's a 5c planchet made of nickel alloy? Or, did copper somehow end up as the planchet (which would make it more impossible sounding)?
It's apparently not only struck on a nickel planchet, but also struck through a die cap. Two very improbable errors in one.
If you are right and it was done intentionally, then in the true sense, it shouldn't be called an error. Maybe a fake error or contrived error would be more accurate? Then again, would PCGS grade a coin that's not 100% authentic?
370 people watching this at this time. My guess is to see if anyone bites. I'm guessing not too likely. If this coin was on Stacks or Heritage, I doubt it would see anything near $225,000.
This error is not possible when the mint is operating as designed - this error can only be created with help. The reason for that is because the cent is smaller than the nickel. The nickel planchet is larger, and cannot fit into the chamber where the cent is struck. The collar restricts the size of the planchet (thus, a cent planchet could very well be struck in a nickel chamber, or quarter - but not vice versa).
Can someone with a PCGS membership verify the coin using their code? Three days for delivery. That should give them a good head start in front of law enforcement.
But isn't it also odd that the nickel planchet looks to be made of copper/brass?? Or is that possible - e.g. has there been, say, a quarter or half dollar made of bronze of the same composition as the penny?
I believe the color is due to the photo being made while the coin was lit up with an incandescent light bulb; these bulbs always cast a yellow look on things.
But then shouldn't the white PCGS paper in the slab also change to a yellowish color, or are you referring to color reflection and not white imbalance? But if it's color reflection, shouldn't the transparent plastic slab also reflect the same bulb color?
I am just guessing. I could be totally wrong. I have been in the past and I'm sure I will be in the future. I often use MS Office Picture Manager to adjust brightness and color in some photos and often find you can only help some parts in the pic without harming others.
So if it is a bronze 5 cent planchet, I'm assuming it would make this coin exponentially more improbable than a nickel-alloy one with the same exact error.
If I were a resident of the U.S., which I am, I would not want to own this "contrived" error but someone from one of the Arab oil states could certainly afford it and hide it away w/o fear of the government coming for them at some later date. Don't they have metal detectors at the Mint when employee's are coming and going from work? Or was this made and tossed into the mix just for ha, ha's? Making the salaries they do at the Mint, why would one risk losing their job for this.
The seller listed it as a wrong metal error coin! So, I believe it is a bronze 5 cent planchet, unless the seller simply is referring to a nickel alloy for a penny... I did a brief search and the only thing that I could find (again briefly), as the seller mentioned, is the 1943 copper-plated bronze penny (which sold for $1 million). So, it's got at least two-three errors: wrong metal (nickel alloy for penny, though this may be part of the nature of a wrong planchet; or, wrong planchet metal in bronze instead of nickel, sort of like having a silver alloy for a penny planchet), die cap, and wrong planchet size (larger nickel planchet "fitted" on smaller penny die as opposed to a less rare smaller planchet on a larger die).
