Don't see this legend error every day. (10/23 update!)
TwoKopeiki
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Unlike reworked dies (over-dates, over-assayers) that were done as part of business as usual operations at the mint when changes occurred, actual mint errors are not as common and usually detected and corrected quickly. That's why there's only a single die with errors like the "1872" (instead of 1782), CARLUS (instead of CAROLUS), FERD IIV (instead of FERD VII). Die sinkers made mistakes and when they realized it before the die went into production, they would quickly fill the mistake with softer metal and punch the correct die element over it. I've documented a number of examples of the letter / number punches being used upside-down and a few legend corrections, such as the coin below.
This one is very drastic and obvious about what was done. The G in GRATIA was accidentally punched into the die twice and corrected.
May 28, 2025 Update
I know I said these types of errors are uncommon, but I was able to pick up another example of a legend error from the recent Aureo sale. This time the die sinker mistakenly picked up the F punch instead of P when spelling HISPAN and ended-up correcting the spelling afterwards. Another very clear under type and a new variety for the books.
Here's what the F letter in the assayer looks like for illustration.
October 23, 2025 Update
Found another example of this previously discovered P/F legend error. This time in the Ibercoin sale of the Jaizkibel Collection.
Comments
Very nice. Is something also going on with the A and T?
My World Coin Type Set
Good call-out! There's something at the base of the T, but not as obvious as the R/G
Updated with a new discovery!
Interesting!
My current "Box of 20"
I really like that new discovery. Nice find!
There's so much yet still left to discover.
Congrats... well done
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Thanks everyone. I'm starting to feel like completing my collection of major and minor varieties for only one denomination and a small span of 49 years of Mexico City Mint's long history might require getting one of my kids into numismatics
Updated the original post with the new example of the P/F in HISPAN. Appears to be the same die pair. Interesting that both pieces exhibit same style of chops and what seems like a common chop (airplane looking one), as well.