No Date Capped Die Cent

These can be found in rolls and when they are encountered, most folks have no idea what happened.

The name "Capped Die Strike" actually tells all. Another term used for a coin that looks like this one is a "Late Stage Brockage".

What happens is a struck coin gets stuck to a die. The first few strikes will actually impart the image of the STUCK coin onto the next few coins to be STRUCK. We refer to those coins as a brockage. That results in a mirror image of the design impressed into the opposite side of the coin. I used capital letters as a way to differentiate the two words stuck and struck.

After a few strikes, the pressures involved in striking the subsequent coins flattens the coin that is stuck to the die. The metal begins to spread beyond the edges of the die. The coin that is stuck to the die can either fall off or remain stuck to the die. In effect creating a "Cap" over that die. (Usually the hammer die) As the metal of the "cap" continues to pound out coins and while it is stuck to the die, it becomes thinner. The further into the process this gets more detail begins to show up on the coins being struck.

The thin layer of metal still distorts the details and the resulting coin looks like the one shown in this thread.

I know, it's a little confusing. here's a recap...Struck Coin gets stuck to die, coin caps die, first few are brockage errors, next few are mid state brockages, next are late stage brockages called capped die strikes.

I hope this helps,

Bill