OFF-CENTER SILVER WASHINGTON QUARTER BROCKAGE

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V23 2020 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 23, Number 40, October 4, 2020, Article 28

Here's the press release for another interesting coin in an upcoming Heritage sale. Great error! -Editor

George Washington has been relegated to the sidelines on a fabulous error coin that Heritage will be offering in the December 15th special error coin auction. In a world of collecting where mistakes are desirable and often very valuable, error coins are highly sought after by collectors as examples of what can go wrong when the careful, precise US Mint makes a mistake!

Graded AU58 by NGC and showing the very slightest touch of rub, this crazy-looking coin must have been set aside nearly immediately after it was struck. It is a dual error, combining both an off-center strike and a brockage. The obverse (the "heads" side) is struck 40% off-center, and there is a brockage on the reverse.

A brockage is an uncommon mint error that can occur when an already-minted coin sticks to the die and impresses onto another blank that has not yet been struck. This results in a fascinating error where one side of the coin has the normal design and the other side has a mirror image of the same design impressed upon it. The coin will have either two fronts (obverses) or two backs (reverses), with one being a mirror image of the other.

In the case of this coin, two heads are better than one--poor sidelines Mr. Washington appears way off to the right of the obverse, with a backwards image of his head on the left side of the reverse. No tails side for this coin!

Collectors can conjecture about the year, which is not visible on this particular coin. However, it was struck on the 90% silver planchets that were used for the Washington Quarter's vintage years of 1932 to 1964, which makes sense given the rich tone that the coin has developed over the years--the coin was not minted recently and has naturally toned over time.

See this great coin for yourself, as part of the Error Coin Auction #60179 here:
No Date 25C Silver Washington Quarter -- Struck 40% Off Ce... (https://coins.ha.com/itm/errors/no-date-25c-silver-washington-quarter-struck-40-off-center-with-reverse-brockage-au58-ngc/p/60179-11001.s)