Ok, Ill make this short and simple. I have half a nickle, manufacturing error. Not half a nickle "cut in half with siccors nickle", HALF a nickle. All that aside. I am no coin collector, just a lucky person, or unlucky..depending on how you look at it, somone who looks at the money they are about to spend. I dont care to keep the coin. I know its worth way more than usual. It was made in 1991. I know its age takes the value away, but still a Mint mistake, and worth a bit of money. I know nothing of the coin market, and how to sell such an item, but im not stupid. I know its not counterfeit, ive had that checked, and checked, and checked. I dont know what to do. I just want the money, and somone can add a coin to their collection. How do I sell this coin?



for thoes who asked for a picture - there it is did the best i could with what i have. (digital camera and a magnifying glass)...if not what i think it is, and what ive been told...then what is it??

The coin dealer in atlanta I went to said the same thing about it, but its the grain of the coin itself (the circular marks with the pattern) that made him, and the guy in covington and conyers think that it was a mistake. The big scrape and the "glue residue" are actually my fault The horizontal scrape is from where I found it, (scraped across the ground with my foot, what had origional caught my attention in the first place --- the day I found it) The glue residue is actually engine gasket sealant, my fault for letting my brother check it out after i found it... so unfortunatly most of the obvious errors were done by me... but its the machined granual lines that are very intresting about it. Only a machine that is very expensive can do that... but the horizontal scrape and the engine sealant is my fauly Anyway, either way... I want to know where I could GO, not email or mail or ne of that. Where can I GO to find out for SURE what this is. I travel for a living, so dosent matter WHERE I GO, Just that i want to GO, and figure out what my coin is. Somone out there must know of a certified coin person or somthin.

There's an error dealer named Fred Weinberg.
http://www.fredweinberg.com/
He will probably buy it if it's a 50% clipped planchet as you seem to be saying. Fred's procedure is for you to mail him the coin and if he wants to buy it, he'll email you back with an offer. If he doesn't want it, he'll mail it back. You can trust him absolutely.

please post a picture fo the coin.... that is the only way to tell for sure what it is.. and what it is worth.... if it is a clipped planchet I can't see it being worth more then $80 or so at most... but without a picture we can't tell

Yeah LD, it could be a clip but maybe an off-center or maybe a die cap....ahhh guess the coin without a pic

Does it look sort of like this?


If so, maybe $15-$20. If not, is there detail on one side only? How did you have it checked (and checked and checked) for authenticity?

Easiest way to sell it is to walk into your local coin shop and ask what they will give you for the coin. But it may spark your interest to learn what it is and how it got to be that way and what similar items sell for - and then you will be in a position to get the best price.

Oh yeh - do you have a pic?

from the description it could be many things.... could be a split planchet... or a clip.... or something someone cut in half...

This is based on looking at your photo, and is no subsitute for actual examination of the coin. I am not a forensic toolmarks expert either.

I think what you have was once a real nickel, but is NOT a real error. What convinced you that the coin is a true mint error? What were the three checks you did on the coin?

There appear to be obvious toolmarks on the "missing" side of that coin. Linear toolmarks going horizontal as if from a scraping tool, peraps a screwdriver that separated two halves, and either an unsual fingerprint or a some circular tollmarks near the edge. I also see evidence of a residue, possibly a glue, beneath the linear toolmarks.

My guess is that it's the remains of a magician's coin made by cutting two nickels in half and gluing the "heads" together. The two halves were later pried apart for some reason. That would explain the marks that I see:

1. The glue left the residue.
2. The linear toolmarks are from prying apart the two halves of the magician's coin.
3. The circular toolmarks are from slicing the original nickel in half.

Again, I can't be sure, but I see no reason to conclude that this is a real error.

I agree. The tooling makes me think its half of a 2 headed nickel.

i agree with the others. this coin is definitely not an error. I am sorry that someone who doesn't know errors told you that it was. It was prob. done with some sort of drill bit or lathe or something similar.

No question in my mind, that is post mint damage.

Definately a nickel that's been cut in half.

Sound like 2 and 1/2 cents to me.