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Posted 05/17/2018 04:30 am
There is a reason why we are assuming it cannot be a mint error, without even seeing any pictures.
To make a coin, the two sides of a coin (obverse and reverse) are stamped onto a blank piece of metal using large, cylindrical-shaped blocks of metal called "dies". These dies are locked into place in a large press, which does the hard work of squeezing the piece of metal between the two dies to create the coin.
The trouble is, the bases of the obverse die and the reverse die are different shapes and sizes. They're deliberately made to be non-interchangeable, to make sure that no-one can ever accidentally pick up a reverse die and put it in where the obverse die is supposed to go, or vice-versa. It's like putting a square peg in a round hole - it simply won't fit.
So, the only way that a genuine two-headed or two-tailed coin can be created is if someone either deliberately creates a die with the wrong base, or they get a special press set up and put two identical dies in it. Such coins are sometimes produced (I know of half a dozen or so that are recorded in the Australian series), but this is moving away from the concept of "accidental mint error" and into the realm of "deliberately-made mint-worker concoction". They are almost always made illegally, and therefore technically are "stolen property" and illegal to own.
To make a coin, the two sides of a coin (obverse and reverse) are stamped onto a blank piece of metal using large, cylindrical-shaped blocks of metal called "dies". These dies are locked into place in a large press, which does the hard work of squeezing the piece of metal between the two dies to create the coin.
The trouble is, the bases of the obverse die and the reverse die are different shapes and sizes. They're deliberately made to be non-interchangeable, to make sure that no-one can ever accidentally pick up a reverse die and put it in where the obverse die is supposed to go, or vice-versa. It's like putting a square peg in a round hole - it simply won't fit.
So, the only way that a genuine two-headed or two-tailed coin can be created is if someone either deliberately creates a die with the wrong base, or they get a special press set up and put two identical dies in it. Such coins are sometimes produced (I know of half a dozen or so that are recorded in the Australian series), but this is moving away from the concept of "accidental mint error" and into the realm of "deliberately-made mint-worker concoction". They are almost always made illegally, and therefore technically are "stolen property" and illegal to own.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
