Buffalo nickel "clump"

[jhamner]

I found this old Buffalo in a pile of change many years ago--it appears that an extra piece of metal got stuck between the die and the planchet because the "clump" has many of the letters you would find on the nickel, only spread randomly on this extra piece of metal. The reverse is normal. I was just wondering what viewers think--what would you call this error, if it is an error? Would it be rare or fairly common? Thanks for your insights! Jack.

[diamond]

It looks like a lump of well-worn solder that was impressed with some design. It's not a minting error, that's for sure.

[jhamner]

Buffalo nickel

It looks like a lump of well-worn solder that was impressed with some design. It's not a minting error, that's for sure.

Thanks, Mike! Jack.

[jhamner]

Buffalo nickel

Thanks, Mike! Jack.

Mike--I went back and took another look at that "clump"--it sure looks to me like it's the same material as in the nickel, but I could be wrong. Thanks, Jack.

[rascal]

Folks I happened to run across this thread and decided to give you my two cents worth on it. now this is just a guess on my part , this nickel appears to me to have been made from a die that has clashed with a shattered die.I have heard of this happening where a die cracks into small pieces and then clashes with another die and transfers the the image of the shattered die fragments onto the other die. The extra letters looks like they may be from the words [ e pluribus unum ] from a buffalo reverse die.

[rockdude]

Wowee that is some clash! I think the material that the die is made of would not allow that much material to penetrate into the opposite die. Therefore I say post mint damage.

[rascal]

Rockdude it would depend on how may times the dies actually clashed together without a coin planchet between them. anyway I just took a stab at it and was just a guess. trust me just about anything can happen at the mint with those big heavy machines and the metal coin dies sometimes builds up heat and becomes more soft. This is why I think this coin forum is so good , we can all put our heads together and maybe we can all learn something. Two heads are better than one.

[19Lyds]

I need to ask the obvious:

If this were the result of a clash with a reverse die that had shattered, wouldn't the reverse be all honked up?

I find it odd that the technician would replace only the reverse die (which had shattered) without inspecting the obverse die for obvious damage.

Additionally, the letters are much too large to have been from E PLURIBUS UNUM.

[jhamner]

Folks I happened to run across this thread and decided to give you my two cents worth on it. now this is just a guess on my part , this nickel appears to me to have been made from a die that has clashed with a shattered die.I have heard of this happening where a die cracks into small pieces and then clashes with another die and transfers the the image of the shattered die fragments onto the other die. The extra letters looks like they may be from the words [ e pluribus unum ] from a buffalo reverse die.

Thanks, rascal--that seems more plausible to me than the solder theory...the "clump" material appears to me to have the same composition and hardness as the nickel. Also, the letters in the "clump" look to be of the same type as on Buffaloes.

[rascal]

jhamner I'm not sure that your coin is a mint error. I was just taking a guess at it. If the coin is a real mint error other folks out there may have one of them. I have seen another one just like yours sell on Ebay or you may have the same one. This was a few years back . If your coin was made at the mint the part you are calling a clump is probably what is called a large die chip and may have been where the obverse die fractured and lost some big chips out of it .

If what I said has a chance of being what happened then both the reverse die and the obverse die may have cracked up and come apart when the dies clashed together. The reverse die may have been changed immediately after this and maybe a few test coins was made before the obverse die was changed. what I noticed from your photo is that all of the extra letters appear to be down lower towards the fields of the coin and the lump of metal is up higher which makes the high part look like a obverse die chip.

This appears to be a real mystery coin and even if you never do get it authenticated it does make a good conversation piece.

[diamond]

Fellas, you're grasping at straws. The appearance of this coin is wholly incompatible with anything a coinage press could produce. There is no known error that looks like this, nor could there be.

[jcuve]

Fellas, you're grasping at straws. The appearance of this coin is wholly incompatible with anything a coinage press could produce. There is no known error that looks like this, nor could there be.

I couldn't have said it better.

Let it go guys - this is not a Mint error.

[jhamner]

Buffalo "clump"

Thanks to all who responded to this post. Just FYI, I'm not trying to make something out of nothing. In fact, I don't even collect coins! I just found this weird nickel in a coin collection from a gentleman who passed away several years ago, and I am just trying to find out WHAT it is! It doesn't matter to me about the cause, the reason, or the result--was just trying to get some opinions from the experts...which I did, and I thank you for that. Jack.

[wavysteps]

I was going to add a bit to this thread. However, Mike and Jason have said all that needs to be said.

BJ Neff