194x-S Florin San Francisco Off-Metal Strike on USA Nickel Planchet PCGS MS62
| We Last Sold This Item For: | $1,950.00 |
|---|---|
| Last Sold On: | 28/12/2021 |
| # Sold In Past 12 Months: | 0 |
194x-S Florin San Francisco Off-Metal Strike
Believed to be on an Australian 1943-S florin on a USA Nickel Planchet
Diameter: 23mm | Weight: 4.58g | PCGS MS62
This florin was struck on a planchet for a completely different country.
Although it is not completely unheard of for manufacturing mints to strike coins on planchets other than those originally intended, it is very unusual indeed to see a coin struck on a planchet of a coin from a foreign country. This particular Australian florin was struck at the San Francisco Mint in the USA, on a planchet thought to have been intended for a 1943-dated nickel.
PCGS has not designated this coin as being struck on an American Nickel planchet, but that is what we believe it to be.
Once it became known that PCGS were designating off-metal errors such as this coin as having been struck on "orphan" planchets (ie from an unidentified source), I initially thought that they might have been struck on planchet for yet another foreign coin being struck by the San Francisco Mint in 1943. Subsequent research has convinced me that despite the PCGS designation, these coins are indeed struck on US "wartime" Nickel planchets.
I accessed a copy of "Foreign Coins Struck at Mints in the United States", published in 1974 by Phillip Steiner and Michael Zimpfer - it is 46 pages long, and lists each and every single foreign coin struck at the US Mints between 1847 and 1973. I have carefully reviewed this list several times and can say that there is not one foreign (ie non-US) coin listed within it that shares specifications that are even approximate to the specifications outlined above. The only coin that comes close is the Jefferson "wartime" nickel, as well as the Five Centavos from the Dominican Republic and dated 1944 - it was struck on the same planchets as used on the US "wartime" Jefferson nickel.
Interestingly, a short post on the "Mint Error News" website describes a US nickel that is similarly difficult to identify:
- 1944`P’ Struck on a heavy planchet. Brilliant Uncirculated. 5.96 grams. At nearly 20% over the official weight for a Silver War Nickel, this coin was clearly struck on the wrong planchet stock. Although this Nickel has the luster and color of a Silver War Nickel, it is possible that this piece was struck on a planchet intended for a foreign coin struck at the Philadelphia Mint, but no such corresponding coin can be found in Steiner and Zimpfer for this time period.
Although the weight of this coin is slightly lighter than the standard 5.00g of the "wartime" Jefferson nickel struck at various mints in the US between 1942 and 1945, our own testing of a dozen or so "wartime" nickels shows a wide tolerance for both the weight and purity of the coins struck.
Discovery of Comparable Errors in 1947 by Syd Hagley
I came across an article in an old numismatic journal by Seaby's of London - it covered off-metal strikes of Australian pre-decimal coins, struck in the United States during World War II.
The noted Australian numismatist, Syd Hagley, had submitted a paper for the Seaby Coin and Medal Bulletin in 1947 entitled “Americo-Australian Hybrids”. In it, Hagley states that “Two very interesting ” sports “ of Australian coin types on United States planchets have recently been added to my cabinets. As they appear to be unpublished, a few details may be of interest to the collector of U.S. coins although they belong essentially to the Australian series.”
“During 1942–44 the enormous increase in coin requirements of Australia, occasioned by the war, necessitated the aid of the U.S. Mints to cope with the demand. This demand was in no small way due to the use of Australian currency by the U.S. forces throughout the Solomons and New Guinea. It is to this period that these two ”sports“ belong, both being products of the San Francisco Mint.”
"The dies for the Australian florin were used in both instances and the {mintmark} S is plainly visible above the date. The first two are struck on planchets intended for the U.S. nickels of the current issue, against which they balance perfectly, weighing approximately 77 grains.
As the planchets are considerably smaller than the dies only part of the design appears, and there is a distinct difference between the two specimens. The second “type”, although slightly larger than the zinc-coated steel cent, due to spreading in striking, weighs the same as the cent of even date and is obviously on a planchet intended for that coin."
This subject - errors occurring in the production of Australian coins at US branch mints during World War II, is no doubt a specialized one, one that would cause the eyes of even most Australian coin collectors to glaze over, much less a non-collector.
To the keen student of the Commonwealth series though, this chance find definitely is interesting. Here we have what is possibly the earliest published reference to an error occurring in the production of an Australian coin at a foreign mint, that it was made by a numismatist of Syd Hagley’s standing makes such errors all the more interesting.
Comparable Errors From the Australian Decimal Series
There are several error coins from the Australian decimal series that involve planchets from foreign counties - the 1981 20 cent coin (at least six are known to have been struck on a Hong Kong $2 planchet), and a 2001 twenty cent coin (thought to be unique in private hands) struck on a bimetal planchet.
Those coins have previously been valued in the McDonald pocket guide at $7,500 and $5,500 respectively.
The popular website /magazine on error coins, "Mint Error News" again reports that several other wrong planchet errors are known in the Australian pre-decimal series - an Australian 1943-S Six-Pence on a U.S. steel Cent planchet is one of them.
With all of the auction appearances for comparable coins taken into account, an Australian pre-decimal "wrong planchet" error is rarer than the 1981 twenty cents / Hong Kong $2 coin error. Given the price that the decimal "wrong planchet" errors are currently bringing, these pre-decimal errors look to be excellent value for money indeed - particularly since they're close to 40 years older.
Click the PCGS icon below to verify the certificate details for this coin directly on the PCGS website.
PCGS Certificate Number: 40547459
SKU: 208799
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