Another Platinum Eagle Proof Frosting Error

The following is a press release from NGC

Last month's newsletter included an announcement that NGC had certified a proof platinum American Eagle $100 one-ounce piece coined from dies on which the word FREEDOM had been erroneously frosted. The coin was discovered by Jason Fishman, who submitted it to NGC, and we urged readers to examine their own coins for additional examples. Before any such reports came into us, another denomination of this coin series turned up here for grading and confirmation of the frosting error. Like the other example, this one is a 2007-W proof platinum piece, but it is the quarter-ounce $25 issue.

The incuse letters in FREEDOM appear on the banner draping the shield on the reverse of this coin type, and the letters are supposed to be brilliantly polished, appearing in silhouette against the frosted banner. In this new discovery there is absolutely no trace of brilliant surface within the letters, and they clearly were given the same frosted finish as the rest of the eagle motif.

A follow-up investigation by Coin World resulted in confirmation from the U. S. Mint that this was not an error in the conventional sense. Instead, these coins were prototypes that were ultimately rejected by the Mint because the word FREEDOM was insufficiently readable. The choice was made to polish this word for the production coins, and the only error was in accidentally releasing some of the prototypes. The Mint indicated that three of the four platinum issues were coined with frosted FREEDOM, only the $10 denomination lacking.