Oh, how embarrassing, you are in a mad rush and you burst into the room only to realize that it’s the wrong chamber just in time to get smacked on the face to add to your troubles. Well, it happens all the time around here at the asylum so it’s no wonder why we feel such a connection with these little misfits from the US Mint. You see, these planchets in the hustle and bustle of operations at the Mint somehow found their way into the wrong press and got smacked with the wrong set of dies just for their trouble.

Seriously, this type error occurs when a planchet and occasionally a struck coin gets caught in one of the many metal bins or carts used to move both in process and finished material around the Mint production floor. When the cart is subsequently reused it may not be on the same line as its previous use and upon loading these stuck planchets get knocked loose. Now they are free to mix in with the other occupants of the cart and thus if smaller than their new friends find themselves following them into the wrong striking chamber. A number of terms are used to describe the results – wrong planchet, wrong metal, and double denomination. These are often used incorrectly and interchangeably. The correct definition of each follows:

• Wrong planchet: Simply a coin struck on a blank planchet manufactured for a different, smaller denomination. Examples include a cent struck on a dime, quarter struck on a cent or half struck on a nickel.
• Wrong metal: A subset of the wrong planchet. Sometimes used to describe the above examples since they all represent not only a planchet for another denomination but a difference in metallic composition. This term is also sometimes extended to “transitional” planchet errors. This is where there was a change of composition from one year to the next and somehow some leftover planchets were mixed with the new. The most famous and pricy of these is the 1943 copper cent.
• Double Denomination: This is simply a finished coin that made it through the process only to get shuffled back through the process and ended up going down the wrong line. The ghost image of the original correct strike will be visible. The most prized of these are the ones where the dates don’t match!

As stated in the definition above this cannot happen when the planchet is larger than the striking chamber being used. There are a handful of coins that would on the surface tend to prove the previous statement wrong. Although they have been authenticated and slabbed it is clear (at least to us at the Asylum) that they had inside help – they did not happen naturally. That said, the smallest of our current denominations is the dime. So by the above rule no wrong planchets can occur for this denomination. Next up as work our way up in size is the lowly cent. The table below shows the possibilities.

As you can see the four examples above of what should be a copper cent are struck on either a silver or clad dime planchet and thus could be called either a wrong metal or wrong planchet. The same can be said for the three nickel examples below struck on a copper cent planchet, a silver dime planchet or a clad dime planchet. We prefer to just call them wrong planchets.

Next up in size is the Washington Quarter. The quarter can be found struck on any of its smaller cousins – the cent, nickel or dime. The dime can be found on both pre 1964 silver planchets and the modern clad composition planchet. Examples of the four possibilities are shown in the table below.

Next up in size is the half-dollar. Based on our defined date range we have two types to consider. The first, presented in the table below is the silver Franklin Half. The possibilities on the Franklin are straight forward as there were no composition changes in any denominations struck during the lifetime of the Franklin – a simple progression from cent to quarter.

Did you catch the misstatement in the above paragraph? The half-dollar was not the next step up in size – only denomination. The introduction of the small size Susan B. Anthony dollar in 1979 created a situation where the dollar coin was smaller than the half-dollar coin! This created a fourth possibility to have a lower denomination coin on a higher denomination coin’s planchet. The other three you ask – the cent on a dime, the nickel on a dime and a nickel on a cent. Now let’s throw in the transition from 90% silver to clad and the possibilities for the Kennedy Half nearly double those for the Franklin. The table below shows the seven wrong planchet (by denomination) possibilities. The myriad of transitional errors silver on silver-clad, silver-clad on silver, silver-clad on copper-nickel clad are not considered part of the scope of this collection.

Speak of the devil we now come to the Susan B. Anthony Dollar. Based on planchet size the SBA has the same straight forward four coin distribution cent through quarter as the Franklin Half. The difference is the limited life of the SBA and its ultimate failure to circulate. Wrong planchets are known but quite scarce. The table below shows the possibilities.

Ok, now we come to the 800 pound gorilla in the room – the Eisenhower Dollar! What can we say, outside of the Ike struck on a half-dollar planchet we are in real rare coin territory! Even creating the table below was debated but in the end it was included if for nothing else but to list the possibilities. We here at the asylum are crazy about our coins but we do have limits as to how much we can or will invest in a single coin so don’t expect this chart to be filled anytime soon.

Well that is the extent of wrong planchet possibilities from 1948 to 2014 less the seemingly endless flow of circulating commemorative coinage coming out of the US Mint in recent years. Ok, why that date range? As stated earlier here at the asylum we are crazy about our coins but we are not really crazy-crazy. Going much farther back almost immediately exposes the Walking Liberty half-dollar and the Winged Liberty dime to the list. While interesting let’s complete what we are working on here before exploring older type coins. Since the Franklin was in production when I arrived on this planet (albeit in its last few years) I had to add it. This decision only added one other coin to the mix that being the Wheat Cent. Besides that’s the beauty of this hobby – you and only you decide what limits you put on your collection. You can choose not to include dollar – that might be a wise choice and so far I am trending that way myself. You might only want collect the quarters to go with your date and mintmark set. Whatever you decide you are the only one that has to be happy!

I truly hope you enjoyed this presentation of wrong planchet errors. I hope I have inspired you to collect these as well. We could always use a few more coin-crazy individuals in the hobby.

Bonus Stuff
From Our Neighbors To The North

Canadian Quarters Elizabeth II - Second Portrait Pure Nickel Composition 1968-1989

Struck on a Cent Planchet Struck on a Nickel Planchet Struck on a Dime Planchet