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Haney's Blog

03 Oct 2022

FREAK SHOW 1968 – XXII

Coins | Haney

I decided today to let my Washington team take a break to allow you the chance to gaze upon a FIEND that will have you seeing double.  Yes this does not just have one 1968, but two and likewise it has double D’s indicating its branch mint origin.  This little fellow somehow after receiving the first strike shifted to the right in addition to turning a little more than ninety degrees all while another planchet slipped into the coining chamber below it. Then, WHAM!  The dies came down leaving a clear impression for the year of issue and the mint it was issued from along with some whiskers and clothing in place of the base of the bust as the designer had intended.  Now due to a planchet being in the chamber below the obverse parts of the motto E PLURBUS UNUM and all of STATES are distorted on my FIEND.  It reminiscent of the images I could create with silly putty, the latest Sunday Funnies, and a little free time.  All of that said I would like to think somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlight, is a dateless Lincoln cent with a partial brockage STATES.  Granted having no date this oddity, as I imagine it, would never show up in my searches. Though who knows this imagined piece may have also shifted to the right turning a little more than ninety degrees to be hammered once again this time being date stamped to be something truly exceptional. This being said it would have not been a double date despite being double struck.  Of course that takes more supposition than I can infer from the evidence my little doubled dated Lincoln can offer us.

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19 Sep 2022

FREAK SHOW 1968 – XX

| Haney

Today I invite you to gaze upon a curiosity I mentioned while describing my last FREAK.  Up until the truncated bust of Washington arrived this member of my cast held the coveted title of being my one and only example of an off center 1968 quarter.  Still I think this ODDITY was more a product of a planchet defect than simply a blank not arriving in the coining chamber as its creator had intended.  It would seem to me if you could wind the clock back before the die came crashing down on the DEFECTIVE planchet I suspect it would have never been able to fall into the coining chamber.  It just seems that the planchet when cut from the edge of strip of coining metal it had enough excess to exceed the diameter of the slot it was intended.  Then again I could be all wrong and its IRREGULATIY is just due to how a straight clip allowed the metal to flow without being confined by the coining collar as designed.  A possible strong point in support of this latter argument is the fact the piece only weighs 4.7 grams in lieu of the 5.67 grams noted in the redbook for a standard, yes I almost wrote normal but now normal has a negative connotation go figure, copper nickel issue of this year.  So doing a quick check on the math based upon the 20% clip noted on its plastic captor the weight should be 4.536 grams, which is not that far off from its actual weight.  So I may be wrong about how my little FIEND was created or maybe I am right.  Maybe someday someone can run a computer simulation or better yet create a time machine so I may one day know for sure how my possession came to be. That said it is the mystery that makes this oddly shaped menagerie of pieces so delightfully interesting.

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06 Sep 2022

FREAK SHOW 1968 – XIX

Coins | Haney

I find myself today pondering another season of FREAK SHOW 1968 and frankly I am not quite finding myself in the spirit.  Not to say it has not been a good year for finding new members to join my crew of FREAKS.  Though many were the rarest of oddities found in the guise of Proof, and attributed more often than not to the house of Weinberg.  I did throw my hand up on a few of these though sadly they were destine to reside with larger groups that my little menagerie.  Lamenting those that got away is easy as I have no proof oddities at the moment so no need to pursue more.  If you do not understand my last statement I will just refer you to an excellent book on this, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.  Yes it is a children’s book, but I believe it taps into the inner MONSTER in most of us bitten by the collecting bug.  I have to say biggest reason for my lack of enthusiasm is it has just been plain hot this summer in Texas. Yes I know I live in Texas so stop your whining kid for, THE SHOW MUST GO ON! 

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