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 Replies: 11 / Views: 3,279 |
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Valued Member
United States
172 Posts |
Hey Everyone! This questions is both about a specific coin and also a larger question about defining a misplaced mint mark. A little while back PCGS designated some coins from Fred Weinberg's collection with the attribution "Misplaced Mintmark" and "Misplaced Mintmark - Low" on a few 1970's nickels. Since then, NGC has also used the "Misplaced Mintmark" attribution for nickels that have mint marks that were punched outside the normal placement. It got me thinking about what other coins during the hand-punched mint mark era of coins might also fall under this classification. Subsequently I found this 1989 D half dollar where the mint mark is much lower than normal. It's low enough for half of the mint mark to fall between the 9 and 8 of the date. My questions: Would this be considered a misplaced mint mark? If not, how is it determined where a mint mark needs to be placed to be considered misplaced? Is there a diagram available anywhere that displays the mint's mintmark location tolerance? Thanks!   Here's the normal placement:  |
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Moderator
 United States
188052 Posts |
Mint marks were hand punched until 1990, so they could appear in different locations on each die made in 1989.
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Bedrock of the Community
Canada
21597 Posts |
I have seen others with a low mm as well as others almost touching the bust.
As jbuck stated, they were hand punched into a general area.
Also there are probably hundreds of thousands out there or as many as that
particular die produced.
They are not anymore rare than any other coin with the mm in a different position.
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Valued Member
 United States
172 Posts |
Yes definitely, but the same can be said about the 1970's nickels that were designated by Fred Weinberg, NGC, and PCGS as misplaced. It's the location where the mint marks were hand punched that matters in terms of whether or not they're considered misplaced.
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Valued Member
United States
172 Posts |
Thanks for the responses! I'm not saying this particular coin has any extra value but the misplaced mint mark nickels certainly do. The 1975 formerly fs-401s sell for $300+ and the Fred Weinberg misplaced mint mark nickels sold for $200-$1,100 (though that is probably inflated by the provenance.) Most of those were in circulated grades too. Also, the same argument can be made regarding mintage numbers with those coins as with the 89 D half.
Regardless, I'm not trying to figure out the value of the coin in question. That's not super important. I'm more interested in the "Misplaced Mint Mark" designation and how it's determined and whether this coin would fall into that category.
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Moderator
United States
56855 Posts |
It is lower than "normal" but what does the mint consider "normal" John1  |
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Moderator
United States
34397 Posts |
@crh, for better or worse, the advice we generally give here is that the mintmark needs to be so far from the target that it is touching some other design element for there to be a premium.
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10635 Posts |
 "normal" is in the eye of the beholder. As mentioned, these were hand punched, so there are probably thousands out there that look similar.  |
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Valued Member
United States
172 Posts |
Interesting, the only problem with that mentality is it means that if the Fred Weinberg coins were posted about on this forum they would have simply be disregarded as normal coins. Even the 1975 D FS-401 doesn't technically touch any other design elements.    |
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Valued Member
United States
172 Posts |
"It is lower than 'normal' but what does the mint consider 'normal'"
@John1 you just asked the exact question I was hoping to get an answer to haha.
Edited by CRHunting
11/11/2022 4:10 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
Though not an error, the placement of the MM on your coin is certainly interesting.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3207 Posts |
I can't recall seeing a lower mm on a half, and as such it might garner a small premium from a Kennedy collector
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Replies: 11 / Views: 3,279 |
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Posted 11/11/2022 2:51 pm
