Mint Error Coin Chronicles: Errors Involving Holes

Numismatic Guaranty Company® (NGC®) is the world’s leading authority on mint errors, a popular segment of numismatics. In Mint Error Coin Chronicles, we take an in-depth look at a specific kind of mint error. This month’s topic is Errors Involving Holes.

Unpunched Center Hole

Typically, coins struck in the past hundred years use solid round planchets, but some have holes in the middle by design. When a collector encounters a coin that has an error involving this hole, it can be an exciting discovery. Such is the case with this France 1942 20 Centimes graded NGC Mint Error MS 63 for its Unpunched Center Hole. This coin (lot 1672) has a starting price of €300 (about $330) in the MDC Monaco auction being held on October 23, 2024.

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Double Punched Center Hole

This error is the opposite of the previous one. Instead of there being no punch, there are two. On this coin, a Palestine 1939 5 Mils graded NGC Mint Error MS 64, one of the punches was slightly off center, giving the hole in the middle an elongated appearance. This coin realized $396 at a Heritage Auctions sale in January 2021.

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Offset Center Hole

Sometimes, the coin has the expected single punch, but its location is not correct. This French Indochina 1938A Cent graded NGC Mint Error MS 63 BN has an Offset Center Hole. It realized $264 at a Heritage Auctions sale in October 2022.

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Other NGC-certified error coins like these sold by Heritage Auctions include:

• a Palestine 1942 20 Mils graded NGC Mint Error AU 58 BN - Offset Center Hole, which realized $2,400 in January 2024
• a Palestine 1927 5 Mils graded NGC Mint Error AU Details - Offset Center Hole, which realized $780 in September 2019
• a French Indochina 1935 Half Cent graded NGC Mint Error MS 63 BN - Unpunched Center Hole, which realized $402 in May 2009
• a Fiji 1965 Penny graded NGC Mint Error MS 66 - Offset Center Hole, which realized $186 in December 2022
• a Denmark 1941 Faeroe Islands Ore graded NGC Mint Error AU 58 BN - Double Punched Center Hole, which realized $119 in May 2016

Estimates are provided by the auction house. Prices realized include a buyer’s premium. The $ symbol indicates US Dollars.

Other Mint Error Coin Chronicles Articles:

• Broadstrikes
• Brockage
• Double-Struck
• Mules
• Off-Center Strikes
• Partial Collars
• Rotated Dies Error
• Strike-through Error
• Transitional Errors
• Wrong Planchet Errors