Unstruck Planchet - .9999 fine 2013 Canada SML

silvereaglecoins · January 21, 2013 11:22PM

Found this unstruck planchet while going through a brand new mint roll of (25) 2013 Canada Silver Maple Leafs. Edge is also smooth (no reeding).

I have never seen one and the weight is spot on at 31.4 grams and the diameter is 38 mm.

Does anyone know if these are rare and/or valuable? I am not an error collector so thank you for your help!

7Jaguars · January 21, 2013 11:45PM

Wow, other than weight - how to attribute? Maybe Mass spec./NGC the way to go as they test for metal content. That might still be hard to pin it down other than by your history which would be "undocumented". I would guess with cert it would carry some substantial value but hesitate to give a number - maybe 250+???

I think they are struck in 99.99 silver, right? If so 31.4 would seem not to be accurate for Maple...

syl · January 23, 2013 6:49PM

If you want to know the composition of it, I can give you an address up here in Canuckdom, and you can have it zapped by XRF.... all it would cost is a stamp. It is like a mass spectromter, but nothing touches the coin ... kind of like an all-seeing radar to look at metallic alloys and give you exact composition. That same guy (in Ottawa) is a huge error and variety collector and just wrote the variety section for nickel dollars in the newest Charlton guide. I linked this forum to them on another coin site and had 3 people licking their lips, but curiosity concerning the specific alloy(or not).

7Jaguars · January 23, 2013 9:18PM

But why not go ahead and weigh it - maybe at a local high school chemistry or physics lab - that weight appears out of standard if true. The scientist is me says you have to do that... YouTube - however good that is - has one where the weight is repeated at 31.26 gm. The US eagle was 31.22.
Philharmonic was actually 31.41

silvereaglecoins · January 24, 2013 2:36AM

I am 100% certain that it is an authentic unstruck SML planchet since it was taken from an original 2013 SML mint tube. The RCM guarantees the coins to weigh at least 1 troy ounce or 31.1034768 grams. At 31.4 grams, it is 100.9% of minimum weight which falls into the "normal weight" category.

I have never seen another and the single silver eagle planchet I found on Heritage sold for over $600. If anyone has ever seen another example, I would love to hear from you.

The question now boils down to which grading service I should use to get it certified, NGC or PCGS? Obviously, it will sell much better in a certifed slab vs. raw.

Opinions on grading service would be appreciated.

LochNESS · January 25, 2013 6:13PM

I don't think anyone here is doubting your claim. I've seen enough planchets on the market to know they exist, including slabbed. But I too have often wondered how the heck a grading company could verify its authenticity.

I will say this - just to prove devil's advocate - it seems to have an awful lot of bag marks for something that came out of a tube. That giant field resembles the moon from where I'm sitting. The planchets I've seen - mostly copper (which is softer than silver) - have been fairly clean and untouched. Is the lighting just weird? Or does it really have that many marks on it?

silvereaglecoins · January 26, 2013 12:51AM

Yes... the planchet is covered with what looks like multiple bag marks which puzzeled me as well. I saw a silver eagle blank planchet on the Heritage website but it was relatively smooth.

Since no other SML blank planchets could be found anywhere, I believe it is definitely worth getting certified, especially if it is unique (possible but unlikely).

7Jaguars · January 26, 2013 2:18AM

Definately a problem from a definitive certification standpoint. I have a number of trial strikes and patterns and the unstruck side is frequently a bit "rude" with scuffs, etc.

LochNESS · January 26, 2013 4:12PM

At the last show I attended, an ANA rep was giving away goodies for promo. One of them (which I gladly accepted) was/is a Lincoln cent planchet sealed in celo (from the mint).

I have debated on more than one occasion, whether to submit for slabbing. But then I remember the slabbing fee. So I still have it in the celo.

Unstruck Planchet - .9999 fine 2013 Canada SML

Comments