1913 5C Type Two Buffalo Nickel–Struck on a Dime Planchet–MS66 NGC. 2.5 gm, which is exactly the expected weight of an Uncirculated silver dime.

This remarkable wrong planchet error is predominantly silver-white, but the centers display a whisper of almond-gold toning. Luster shimmers across the immaculate surfaces, which display the finely granular texture characteristic of first-year Buffalo nickels.

Well struck despite the undersized flan, although slight incompleteness is noted on the hair above the braid, the jaw of the Indian, and the flank of the bison.

The date, designer’s initial, E PLURIBUS UNUM, and UNITED are intact. Portions of the other legends are off the flan, although all are readable. Remarkably, all of the Indian’s head is present, as is all of the bison except for the tail. Just enough of the exergue beneath the E C in FIVE CENTS to confirm that no mintmark is present.

Nickels struck on dime blanks are much scarcer than cents struck on dime blanks, but when the error combination is encountered, it is almost always on Jefferson dies.

The Buffalo nickel on silver dime planchet combination is priced at $12,000 in the 2010 Guide Book on page 403, the highest specified price on the page with the exception of the Walking Liberty half on a silver quarter planchet.

However, such prices are for examples in typically encountered grades, which for century-old issues usually imply brief circulation before a fortunate finder realized the uncommon color and diameter. A flawless MS66 certainly demands a considerable premium.

The invaluable Heritage Permanent Auction Archives, which date back to 1991, contain 8,277 lots of error coins. None of these are Buffalo nickels struck on dime planchets, although Buffalo nickels on cent planchets have occasionally appeared at auction. The present error category in such outstanding preservation may never surface again in a Heritage Signature, and the opportunity is fleeting.

To be sold By Heritage as Lot 2039 as part of the 2010 April-May Milwaukee, WI CSNS US Coin Auction #1139

For Walter Breen to call a variety “strange” it must really be unusual, and the 1853/4 quarter does not fail to deliver.

Such a coin simply should not exist. Overdates, by their very nature, are always rehubbed over the previous year. And yet, here is irrefutable evidence that the earlier year was actually hubbed over the later year. Here is how Breen (1988) explained it:

“One of the strangest vars. in U.S. coinage is the 1853/1854, which I discovered in the Hirt collection (1976). This obv. must have been made during fall 1853, when dies were being prepared for both this year and 1854; an obv. die intended for 1853 was first given a blow with the 1854 logotype (whose arrows were differently placed), then several heavier blows with the 1853 logotype. Later states show only part of upright of 4 within 3; rarer earlier states show also part of the extra 85 and both sets of arrows.”

Because of the rarity of early die state pieces, some researchers have doubted the existence of the 4 beneath the 3. This coin should put any doubts to rest. Three major and minor points on the 4 underdigit can be seen on this coin, all of which add up to a convincing digit. First the main upright of the 1 is seen in the entire top loop of the 3 and extends downward slightly into the lower loop. From the bottom of the top ball of the 3, there remains a trace of the diagonal of the 4. On the right side of the 3, between the upper and lower loops, are traces of the vertical bar of the serif at the right side of the 4. Of course, the usual diagnostics are visible as well: repunching on the 8 and 5, and the profound doubling of the right arrowhead.

The 1853/4 is unsurprisingly the only quarter known to have been punched over the following year. When examples of this rare variety are located, they are usually well-worn and in later die states; often only the doubling of the shaft of the arrow is visible. This is the earliest die state we have observed, and light die clashing shows. This is significant as the die was lapped relatively early in order to remove the clashing. As Breen stated, “The latter [early die states] show heavy rev. clash marks, suggesting that obv. regrinding effaced both clash marks and the more obvious traces of overdate.” (more…)

One of the things we find most exciting about reporting on the numismatic marketplace is coming across those things we either didn’t know beforehand, or finding obscure and unusual numismatic items. Just recently we came across one such item, the Gold Disks produced by the US mint for ARAMCO oil payments to Saudi Arabia after World War II.

Below are excerpts from two different articles we located, one from 1981 and the other from 1991.

The Coins that Weren’t

“In Saudi Arabia, gold coins have always been important in the monetary system. For years, in fact, paper money was unacceptable, and to pay royalties to the government, Aramco once flew kegs of both gold and silver coins to jiddah. In 1952, when the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) was formed, the first coin issued was a Saudi sovereign – a gold coin equal in weight and value to the British sovereign – that was later demonetized and today sells for about $124.

To collectors, however, the most interesting Saudi gold coins weren’t coins at all; they were “gold discs” Similar to coins, they were minted by the Philadelphia Mint in the 1940’s for Aramco, and bore, on one side, the U. S. Eagle and the legend “U. S. Mint, Philadelphia, USA” and, on the other side, three lines on the fineness and weight. They looked like coins, they were used as coins, but, technically, they weren’t coins.

In the 1950’s, numismatists were puzzled by these “discs” until-in 1957 – the story emerged in The Numismatist. Aramco, required to pay royalties and other payments in gold to the Saudi government, could not obtain the gold at the monetary price fixed by the United States so the U. S. government specifically began to mint the “discs” – actually bullion in coin form for these payments. In 1945, for example, the mint turned out 91,210 large discs worth $20, and, in 1947,121,364 small discs worth $5, according to The Numismatist.

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