Buffalo Nickels in Off-Metal Strikes?

OneCent

We've seen that Indian Head Cents were subject to off-metal strikes; gold, for instance.


Were there any off-metal strikes of Buffalo Nickels that escaped the Mint confines?

tahoe98

......if so fred probably knows.

LostSisler

1920 on a Cent Planchet

Shamika

I've seen a few copper strikes but that's it. I'm sure there are others.

kranky

There is this example which is claimed to be the only Buffalo struck on a full-size copper planchet. It's owned by a board member (at least it was in 2001).

LostSisler

Strange that the coin I posted and the one you linked to are from the same year/mint...

kranky

<< <i>Strange that the coin I posted and the one you linked to are from the same year/mint... >>



I wonder if RWB could dig up something about these in the archives. It's probably no coincidence they are from the same year.

pheh

Seems it would stand to reason. If you have one from that year the likelyhood of finding another off-metal would lean heavily in favor of it being done at the same time.

Broadstruck

I do not collect off metal planchet strikes, but 1920 is a common date. Yet there are also other dated examples known from the teens and 30's which I've seen in my travels. Most of these occurred as the bins used for planchets at the mint where used multiple denominations. The copper cent planchets where most likely stuck in the bin seams and loosened by the nickel planchets. I think I've also seen a Buff on a Dime planchet, but can not recall where I saw it?

AgBlox

A 3 leg buff on wrong planchet would be sweet.

astrorat

<< <i>I do not collect off metal planchet strikes, but 1920 is a common date. Yet there are also other dated examples known from the teens and 30's which I've seen in my travels. Most of these occurred as the bins used for planchets at the mint where used multiple denominations. The copper cent planchets where most likely stuck in the bin seams and loosened by the nickel planchets. I think I've also seen a Buff on a Dime planchet, but can not recall where I saw it? >>



What this dude said...

Lane

Edited to add...Fred has a trio listed on his website.

FredWeinberg

There are about three dozen or more Buffs. on Cent planchets known,
of various dates.

There are, I believe, about a half-dozen known Buffs.
on Silver Dime planchets.

I'm at home, and don't have my list handy, but Saul
Teishman has compiled them by date/mm.

There is one piece on a full nickel-size Copper planchet;
it's unexplainable as to why it exists; I can't figure it out.

I don't believe there are any Buffalo's known on foreign
planchets, but I may be mistaken.

AngryTurtle

<< <i>

There is one piece on a full nickel-size Copper planchet;
it's unexplainable as to why it exists; I can't figure it out.

>>



A mint employee "accidentally" ran a copper sheet through both the nickel thickness rollers and the nickel planchet punch? Hmm, does not sound likely, does it?

FredWeinberg

There is a PCGS MS-62 1936 Buffalo Nickel
Struck on a Nicaragua 1 Centavo Planchet.

swhuck

<< <i>There are about three dozen or more Buffs. on Cent planchets known,
of various dates.

There are, I believe, about a half-dozen known Buffs.
on Silver Dime planchets.

I'm at home, and don't have my list handy, but Saul
Teishman has compiled them by date/mm.

There is one piece on a full nickel-size Copper planchet;
it's unexplainable as to why it exists; I can't figure it out.

I don't believe there are any Buffalo's known on foreign
planchets, but I may be mistaken. >>



Buffalo Nickels on cent planchets Several items repeat, but there are probably over 20 different coins pictured here. One of them is off-center to boot -- I think I drooled a little bit when it made its way through here.

RWB

I wonder if RWB could dig up something about these in the archives.

All the error coin references I’ve seen in the archives are about striking or planchet problems. There are some comments about coins struck from circulation dies on non-standard alloy planchets, but these were parts of deliberate experiments. (A 1911 cent in CuNi alloy comes to mind.)

Off-metal strikes, by their nature of being mistakes, are not something one would expect to find tracked by mint employees. Until after WW-II people commonly returned defective coins to their local bank or the mint for exchange.

savoyspecial

not what you meant??

aficoinado

<< <i>There is a PCGS MS-62 1936 Buffalo Nickel
Struck on a Nicaragua 1 Centavo Planchet. >>



I've always wondered how do they know that?

seanq

<< <i>

<< <i>There is a PCGS MS-62 1936 Buffalo Nickel
Struck on a Nicaragua 1 Centavo Planchet. >>



I've always wondered how do they know that? >>



Information such as the weight, diameter, and composition of all coins struck in the US for foreign mints is on the public record. Mike Byers had a very handy reference guide listing the specifications of all foreign coins struck at US Mints dating back to the 1860s. For most years just the weight and a visual inspection are all that is necessary to attribute these errors.

If memory serves the 1 Centavo planchets for Nicaragua and other Central American countries were slightly lighter and smaller in diameter than US cents, and their composition was slightly different as well, giving the planchets a dull grey color.


Sean Reynolds