Images Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, HA.com


1860-O Half Dollar, MS63
Indented by Half Dime Planchet
Spectacular Mated Error Pair

1860-O Half Dollar -- Indented by Half Dime Planchet, Mated Pair -- MS63 PCGS. Type One Reverse. WB-102, Die Pair 3, R.3. The "Weird Vertical Stripes" variety with crude vertical lines on the eagle's shield. An amazing mint error. A half dime planchet and a half dollar planchet were fed together between half dollar dies, with the half dime planchet situated between the half dollar planchet and the reverse die. The half dollar planchet was indented by the half dime planchet during the strike, creating a mated error pair. Each of the coins on its own would be a spectacular error find, yet the two coins have remained together since the year Abraham Lincoln was first elected President, and the Pony Express began its brief service.

The "fifty-five cent piece" displays rich steel-gray, walnut-brown, and cobalt-blue toning across the obverse. The reverse displays medium russet-red and lavender toning that deepens at the margins. The obverse has a normal appearance aside from a small pod-shaped strike-through near star 4. The lower stars are lightly brought up, but the strike is needle-sharp on Liberty's hair and adjacent stars. The reverse of the half dollar displays the large circular recession where it was indented by the half dime. The half dime is uniface reverse and shows all of the eagle's shield, claws, and tail, as well as the mintmark and most of the arrows and HALF DOL.

The only comparable mated pair we could find in Heritage's auction archives is a 1973-S Ike dollar indented by an unidentified 1.73 gram planchet. That coin appeared as lot 3523 in our January 2008 FUN Signature and realized $40,250. The present mated pair, struck at the New Orleans Mint from Seated dies and offered in today's market, is certainly worth considerably more.

Editor's Note: As mentioned in the last paragraph of the Heritage auction listing, here is more information and images of the unique proof Eisenhower dollar mated pair. It resided in a world class mint error collection for 15 years. It was subsequently submitted to PCGS for certification. PCGS determined that the Eisenhower dollar was mated to a Lincoln cent planchet.

This fascinating mated pair was featured in the Heritage January 2008 Orlando, FL (FUN) Signature Coin Auction #454 (Lot #3523).

This mated pair has since been certified by PCGS:

Ike Dollar Struck on a 1¢ Planchet
mated with an
Ike Dollar Indented by a 1¢ Planchet
PCGS PR67 & PR67RB