Sac. dollar with "RUS" punched on edge of coin perpendicular to rest of edge letters

[DJKRISP77]

How would the "RUS" from TRUST end up on the edge of a 2009 P Sacagawea dollar? The 3 letters are perpendicular to rest of edge lettering, as my photos display. Very curious if there are any others like this.

[MintErrors]

This is weird.
I see the U appears to be touching the star.
The letters are backwards though and that's a slight concern.
Are the RUS letters raised or incused (sunk into the coin) ?
Is the star incused (just making sure)?
Is the area you are talking about, on the rim where the lettering normally goes ?

[DJKRISP77]

The star was punched on top of the U. The RUS appear to be raised, as they are on obverse of coin. The star also appears to be raised, and placed after the U was punched. This is placed on the rim of coin where E Pluribus Unum, date and mint mark are printed. TRUST is on the obverse of coin where it should be, adding to my confusion as to how/why these letters are on the rim of coin as well. Yes the RUS are also backwards, why is that concerning? I will try to get better photos so it is a little clearer to see. I'm glad I'm not the only one that finds this just a little odd!!

[DJKRISP77]

And I stand corrected, the star is incused like the rest of the original edge lettering. I do still believe the RUS are raised but after staring at it so many times it's getting hard to tell the difference. It's obviously time to upgrade my equipment. I want to get it grading but I don't know what type of error to list it as or how to price for insuring.

[Jlynn8523]

This is more of a question for anyone who knows, but isn’t it said that if words on a coin are backwards, they are PMD transferred from another coin like when two coins get clamped in a vice?

[MintErrors]

It's a complex question. And most of it depends on what is present. This particular coin has edge lettering, and it's rounded. If it was a vise job, more that likely the coin would have been damaged. The rim would have been warped, and lettering smeared.

This could have been a fragment from another coin, that got adhered to the rim area. It's difficult to know for sure. It would require an in hand assessment from an error coin examiner.

For backward letters or numbers on a coin thatvis on the obverse or reverse, it depends on a lot of variables. Is the lettering raised or sunk into the coin ? Is it of the same type coin or another denomination ? Is the rim damaged? Does an overlay show its unlike position for the design, without it being off center.....

Brockage can happen from a capped die. That can cause the entire design to be backwards on one side of the coin.

That just scratches the surface. The error site, https://error-ref.com has a lot of info on errors.

It definitely has to be approached by each coin. There is no answer that fits every coin. Although - on the obverse or reverse, it becomes suspect if letters are backwards.

[occnumis2021]

The star was punched on top of the U. The RUS appear to be raised, as they are on obverse of coin. The star also appears to be raised, and placed after the U was punched. This is placed on the rim of coin where E Pluribus Unum, date and mint mark are printed. TRUST is on the obverse of coin where it should be, adding to my confusion as to how/why these letters are on the rim of coin as well. Yes the RUS are also backwards, why is that concerning? I will try to get better photos so it is a little clearer to see. I'm glad I'm not the only one that finds this just a little odd!!

if you have a flashlight reflector, you can photo the entire edge at the same time. i did this for the pres dollars with many edge errors.

[DJKRISP77]

Greg Bennick, James Zimmerman and Noal White looked at this coin at the Pennsylvania Area Numismatists Show...Greg will be writing an article about this coin in his Numisminutia article in the September/October issue of ErrorScope!! I am elated with their findings and excited to read his article!

[MintErrors]

OK, what was the outcome? Was it a fragment ?

[DJKRISP77]

After the 3 of them looked at it and Greg reaching out to get Mike Diamonds opinion, they all agreed that my coin somehow bumped in to another dollar coin causing the impression on my coin. With the star being over the U they also agreed this happened between striking of the obverse/reverse and edge lettering pressing. They called it "post strike pre lettering" damage. I am looking forward to the September issue of ErrorScope to see how he writes it up!!

[ariel cabrera]

After the 3 of them looked at it and Greg reaching out to get Mike Diamonds opinion, they all agreed that my coin somehow bumped in to another dollar coin causing the impression on my coin. With the star being over the U they also agreed this happened between striking of the obverse/reverse and edge lettering pressing. They called it "post strike pre lettering" damage. I am looking forward to the September issue of ErrorScope to see how he writes it up!!

What you and specialists say cannot happen, it goes against mathematics and physics.

[DJKRISP77]

I appreciate your opinion, and open to other ideas, however, this theory does make sense. Although the odds of something like this happening are millions:1, it has happened. The exact way it occurred may remain a mystery, but with the star being over the U indicates it was done before leaving the mint. Again, I am open to other suggestions as to how this might have happened, but I do accept the conclusion of the 3 specialists that looked at this in person. I do hope this coin initiates many conversations! The more questions asked the more we will learn and understand about the minting process. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

[ariel cabrera]

I appreciate your opinion, and open to other ideas, however, this theory does make sense. Although the odds of something like this happening are millions:1, it has happened. The exact way it occurred may remain a mystery, but with the star being over the U indicates it was done before leaving the mint. Again, I am open to other suggestions as to how this might have happened, but I do accept the conclusion of the 3 specialists that looked at this in person. I do hope this coin initiates many conversations! The more questions asked the more we will learn and understand about the minting process. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Even the worst countries in terms of minting systems (capital investment) do not make this mistake.

[MintErrors]

I believe it can happen, and it could have simply had a coin fed into the lettering portion of the machine getting jammed and falling in between the roller, and a coin getting lettering.

Bob Piazza used to say (paraphrasing) ;
It's at the US Mint...things happen.

I personally thought it was legit but it's extremely difficult to assess something like this with photographs only. You need to see the entire coin to look for tell tale signs - whether good or bad.

Good call on getting Mike Diamond involved, he is quite the master of knowledge when it comes to error coins.

Before anyone says anything bad about the coin, one has to understand the U.S. minting process. When people do not know the minting process and throw out comments with no logical explanation, it just sets a tone on unprofessionalism, in my opinion.

[Dbarton]

Is anyone familiar with a 1983 no mint mark penny? I found one with thicker lettering, especially in " WE TRUST".