Mint Error Coin Chronicles: Foldover Strikes
Posted on 12/10/2024
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 the Foldover Strike.
For a Foldover Strike to occur, first the blank planchet must be standing vertically between the dies. This might seem impossible, but a research paper on the American Physics Society website estimates the odds of a coin being tossed and landing on its side are 1 in 6,000. And while the planchet is supposed to remain flat as it is brought between the dies, that doesn't always happen. Keep in mind that the US Mint strikes billions of coins each year.
When the planchet does stand vertically, the forces from the strike of the dies is so immense that it bends the planchet, which can contort the coin into a semi-circular or other shape. This Lincoln Cent graded NGC Mint Error MS 64 RB not only has a Foldover Strike but it was also struck off-center. The dies only caught a small portion of the surface area of the folded planchet, and the date is unknown, though the weight of 2.5 grams indicates it was struck in 1982 or later. This coin is offered in a December 2024 Heritage Auctions sale.
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Below is another Lincoln Cent with a Foldover Strike offered in the same sale. This one, which is graded NGC Mint Error MS 64 RB, does include most of the design, though the last digit of the date is cut off. The weight of 3.1 grams indicates it was struck in 1980, 1981 or 1982.
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The Heritage sale also includes a third example of a Lincoln Cent with a Foldover Strike; this one has a full date of 1980 and a grade of NGC Mint Error MS 64 RB. Foldover Strikes are one of the rarest errors, and are most often seen on Lincoln Cents. However, Heritage has also offered NGC-certified Jefferson Nickels and Roosevelt Dimes with this error.
Other NGC-certified coins with a Foldover Strike sold through Heritage Auctions include:
- a 1970-D Jefferson Nickel graded NGC Mint Error MS 66 6FS that realized $4,560 in December 2022
- a 1965 Jefferson Nickel graded NGC Mint Error MS 64 that realized $4,312 in August 2010
- an undated Roosevelt 90% Silver Dime graded NGC Mint Error MS 65 FT that realized $3,840 in July 2021
- a Roosevelt Dime struck in Denver graded NGC Mint Error MS 64 that realized $2,880 in December 2022
- a Jefferson Nickel graded NGC Mint Error MS 63 6FS that realized $2,280 in July 2021
- a 1981 Lincoln Cent graded NGC Mint Error MS 66 RB that realized $1,320 in March 2023
- a 1989 Lincoln Cent graded NGC Mint Error MS 66 RD that realized $1,233 in October 2021
- a 1994 Lincoln Cent graded NGC Mint Error MS 66 RD that realized $1,140 in July 2021
- a Lincoln Cent graded NGC Mint Error MS 66 RD that realized $1,080 in January 2023
- a 197X Lincoln Cent graded NGC Mint Error MS 64 BN that realized $1,080 in December 2022
Prices realized include buyer’s premium. The $ symbol indicates US Dollars.
Other Mint Error Coin Chronicles Articles:
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