A couple of Malaysian Error Coins

[Russellhome]

I can't afford these kinds of major errors on US coins -- but wanted examples for my collection. So I sprung for Malaysian examples. Nice error coins - nicer price.

Here is a die cap - shown next to a regular example of the 10 Sen coin...



Here is a double struck 20 Sen coin - with the 2nd strike out-of-collar and off center...









Not knowing anything about Malaysian currency -- I did a little email conversing with the seller after the sale. I learned that the Malaysian Ringgit (RM) is only worth about 1/3 of a dollar (31 cents to be exact). There are 100 Sen per Ringgit – so that makes the exchange value on the double struck 20 Sen coin equal to about 6 cents. Considering that it is about the size of a U.S. quarter, I imagine they too are having issues with production costs vs. face value of coins produced. In fact, the Malaysian seller told me that the 1 Sen coin – worth only 1/3 of a cent – was discontinued and demonetized in 2008. I thought it interesting that demonetization was hand-in-hand with being discontinued. I imagine that millions of those little copper 1 Sen coins are being melted down as we speak.

So the good news for Lincoln Cent fans is... should the U.S. wait to discontinue the cent until its value is 1/3 of today’s value (as was the Malaysian 1 Sen denomination) – I guess we have about 50 years before the US Mint is forced to take the plunge.

[mikediamond]

The 10 sen coin at top is not really a die cap (although every grading service would call it that). It's a deeply cupped broadstrike with a first-strike brockage. It takes only a single strike to create massive expansion and to cause the perimeter of the coin to curl up toward the hammer die.

[Russellhome]

Thanks for the info Mike. I know even less about error coins than I do about die varieties.

So - was the other "previously struck" coin involved in this process most likely stuck in the collar?

Also - I've seen examples of brockage where the mirror image is crisp and clear. The mirror image on this 10 Sen lacks a lot of detail. By "First Strike Brockage", are you saying that this cup-shaped 10 Sen coin was the first coin struck against the previously struck coin -- or had that other coin taken a few hits before this one arrived?

[mikediamond]

Yes. The brockage-maker was struck in the collar. If it was otherwise then you'd see incomplete peripheral design elements on the brockage.

Clarity of a first-strike brockage varies, depending on a lot of factors -- composition of the coins, striking pressure, deployment of collar (or lack of), etc. As far as I can tell, the brockage-maker was struck once before the strike that created your coin, and your coin was struck a single time. Solid copper-nickel coins often generate brockages that lack clarity.

I would say that 98% of U.S. "die caps" in U.S. that carry a brockage of the obverse design on the reverse face are the product of a single strike. People are fooled by the cupping, which is an unreliable diagnostic. Some die caps show no cupping while many coins that are not die caps show dramatic cupping.