anyone collect foreign error coins?

[Luvdawgs-migration]

I purchased a few off-metal planchet Canadian coins, and was able to find them at a good price. I guess that's because they don't have as big a demand as US error coins. What has your experience been with foreign error coins?

 

Susan

[gmarguli]

I've sold some off center ones and the prices I got were OK - maybe $20.

 

I've got one off metal coin that I picked up for a few dollars. It's french. No idea of its value.

 

The doubled dies don't seem to bring any real premium for foreign coins.

[a2labmom]

Maybe a dumb question, but what is an off metal coin?

[EVillageProwler]

An off-metal coin is one struck not in the metal intended for it.

 

For example, some 1972 U.S. cents were struck in aluminum. That's an off-metal striking, since they're supposed to be copper or bronze or whatever...

 

(I may have gotten the date wrong, but you get the point... I'm obviously no moderns expert.)

 

EVP

 

[a2labmom]

Thanks for the explain, EVP. I had no clue what they were. Now I do.

[gmarguli]

It was 1974 and they were intended to be struck in aluminum.

 

A true off metal would be something like a nickel die being used to strike coins being fed a (copper) cent planchet.

[EVillageProwler]

Actually, I use the definition of ``off metal'' slightly differently than you. (I can't say that I'm right though.)

 

There are a number of silver dollar pattern restrikes that were dated from the mid-1860's. They used regular Seated Dollar dies, but were struck on proper-sized planchets made not from the typical composition of silver:copper (9:1).

 

I've often referred to them as off-metal, and had no confusion. Perhaps my audience was just being polite?

 

EVP

 

PS Who knows why I referred to those patterns as restrikes?

 

[gmarguli]

I can't honestly say whether you are right or wrong. I've just always heard the term off-metal to indicate an error in the planchet.

 

Any time the planchet was intentionally different than the normal, the ones I have seen have been referred based on their metal content (i.e. Seated Dollar, J1234, struck in copper) and not off-metal (SBA, off-metal error, struck on cent planchet).

 

Maybe one of the NGC graders will see this and know the correct definition.