1962 Half Crown Mule

[Kris 0]

Hello all

I was going through some old coins yesterday and found a 1962 Half Crown which is double tailed. I can see no visible join around the milled edge whatsoever and this appears to be an error from the mint!

Does anyone know what this coin could be worth please before I put it on an internet auction site?

Thank you for any help.

Kris

[Accumulator 52]

Hello all

I was going through some old coins yesterday and found a 1962 Half Crown which is double tailed. I can see no visible join around the milled edge whatsoever and this appears to be an error from the mint!

Does anyone know what this coin could be worth please before I put it on an internet auction site?

Thank you for any help.

Kris

Welcome Kris,

Its impossible to be 100% certain from the photographs, but the second picture suggests what I would immediately assume to be true. One side of a 1962 halfcrown has been hollowed out on a lathe and a second coin, also reduced on a lathe, has been let into the first. The join is just visible in places along the rim.

I have a couple examples of this and I suspect many collectors do. They have no value except as a curiosity. Good for 'heads or tails' though

[Red Riley 2]

Hello all

I was going through some old coins yesterday and found a 1962 Half Crown which is double tailed. I can see no visible join around the milled edge whatsoever and this appears to be an error from the mint!

Does anyone know what this coin could be worth please before I put it on an internet auction site?

Thank you for any help.

Kris

Welcome Kris,

Its impossible to be 100% certain from the photographs, but the second picture suggests what I would immediately assume to be true. One side of a 1962 halfcrown has been hollowed out on a lathe and a second coin, also reduced on a lathe, has been let into the first. The join is just visible in places along the rim.

I have a couple examples of this and I suspect many collectors do. They have no value except as a curiosity. Good for 'heads or tails' though

For this to be genuine, it would require the mint to have used two reverse dies at the same time, which just doesn't happen. Accumulator is absolutely right regarding how they were made; the lathe operator in question must have been flush at the time though, as it was more common to do it with a penny. Probably the best thing you can do is put it on e-bay and see if there are any takers. Don't say it's genuine though!

[Gary D 76]

Whoever did it also used two different reverses

[Kris 0]

Thank you guys, I was was hoping that I'd not have to go back to work!

Oh well, thank you for helping me with my query

Kris

[Accumulator 52]

Thank you guys, I was was hoping that I'd not have to go back to work!

Oh well, thank you for helping me with my query

Kris

There are very, very few coins that would save you having to find an honest day's work for the rest of your life. Possibly a Petition crown might relieve you of toil for a few years, otherwise you need to find something exceedingly rare from the US. Your coin might just pay for a pub lunch.

[Peckris 579]

Hello all

I was going through some old coins yesterday and found a 1962 Half Crown which is double tailed. I can see no visible join around the milled edge whatsoever and this appears to be an error from the mint!

Does anyone know what this coin could be worth please before I put it on an internet auction site?

Thank you for any help.

Kris

Welcome Kris,

Its impossible to be 100% certain from the photographs, but the second picture suggests what I would immediately assume to be true. One side of a 1962 halfcrown has been hollowed out on a lathe and a second coin, also reduced on a lathe, has been let into the first. The join is just visible in places along the rim.

I have a couple examples of this and I suspect many collectors do. They have no value except as a curiosity. Good for 'heads or tails' though

Yes, I agree. It would be impossible for this to be done at the Mint, so a lathe sounds the most likely way it was done. And yes, I'm almost sure I can see evidence of the join on the right hand picture. Good curio though, and worth keeping just for its own sake.

[Peckris 579]

Hello all

I was going through some old coins yesterday and found a 1962 Half Crown which is double tailed. I can see no visible join around the milled edge whatsoever and this appears to be an error from the mint!

Does anyone know what this coin could be worth please before I put it on an internet auction site?

Thank you for any help.

Kris

Welcome Kris,

Its impossible to be 100% certain from the photographs, but the second picture suggests what I would immediately assume to be true. One side of a 1962 halfcrown has been hollowed out on a lathe and a second coin, also reduced on a lathe, has been let into the first. The join is just visible in places along the rim.

I have a couple examples of this and I suspect many collectors do. They have no value except as a curiosity. Good for 'heads or tails' though

Yes, I agree. It would be impossible for this to be done at the Mint, so a lathe sounds the most likely way it was done. And yes, I'm almost sure I can see evidence of the join on the right hand picture. Good curio though, and worth keeping just for its own sake.

[Peckris 579]

I tried to post my Reply and got a pink message about the Administrator not allowing more than one post in such a short space of time. I hadn't even managed one Reply so I hit Back and then tried to post again, only to see my post was there twice over.

[VickySilver 830]

Not impossible feat at the mint as I have seen legit double obv and rev strikes from this era. At the moment Northeast Numismatics in the USA have a 69s era florin for sale on their site.

This one here shown not however.

[Hussulo 6]

Legitimate Mules do exist and I have seen a couple slabbed by NGC before. I also used to own a Euro cent that was struck by 2 reverse dies and a Thai Baht struck by two obverse dies. So genuine ones are struck by mints for whatever reason, possibly testing..

99% of the coins you see have been man made and are post mint damaged, some are refered to as Magicians coins and used for tricks. in you image, on the image to the right I can see a line at the bottom below the beading. I think that is the side that has been machined out and added.

If you are confident it is genuine, you could send it to CGS Uk and get their opinion, or send it to Robert Matthews http://www.coinauthentication.co.uk/ for authentication. Both will cost you a smal fee.

[Gary D 76]

Legitimate Mules do exist and I have seen a couple slabbed by NGC before. I also used to own a Euro cent that was struck by 2 reverse dies and a Thai Baht struck by two obverse dies. So genuine ones are struck by mints for whatever reason, possibly testing..

99% of the coins you see have been man made and are post mint damaged, some are refered to as Magicians coins and used for tricks. in you image, on the image to the right I can see a line at the bottom below the beading. I think that is the side that has been machined out and added.

If you are confident it is genuine, you could send it to CGS Uk and get their opinion, or send it to Robert Matthews http://www.coinauthentication.co.uk/ for authentication. Both will cost you a smal fee.

I have a 1970 proof penny with two reverses and even under a x20 microscope I cant see any foul play. Have often wondered about getting it authenticated.

[Peckris 579]

Legitimate Mules do exist and I have seen a couple slabbed by NGC before. I also used to own a Euro cent that was struck by 2 reverse dies and a Thai Baht struck by two obverse dies. So genuine ones are struck by mints for whatever reason, possibly testing..

99% of the coins you see have been man made and are post mint damaged, some are refered to as Magicians coins and used for tricks. in you image, on the image to the right I can see a line at the bottom below the beading. I think that is the side that has been machined out and added.

If you are confident it is genuine, you could send it to CGS Uk and get their opinion, or send it to Robert Matthews http://www.coinauthentication.co.uk/ for authentication. Both will cost you a smal fee.

I have a 1970 proof penny with two reverses and even under a x20 microscope I cant see any foul play. Have often wondered about getting it authenticated.

The "genuine" examples - e.g. 1970 penny - will have been minted at the London Mint when they were on the way to being shut down. I wonder if the supervision was a bit lax if all they were doing was proof sets, and therefore could get away with a bit of 'monkey business'?

[Hussulo 6]

Heres one for sale by Northeast numismatics:

http://www.northeastcoin.com/popupcontainer.jsp?include=/popup/viewimage.jsp&itemkey=zi29_127177608

Edited August 23, 2012 by Hussulo

[Peckris 579]

Heres one for sale by Northeast numismatics:

http://www.northeastcoin.com/popupcontainer.jsp?include=/popup/viewimage.jsp&itemkey=zi29_127177608

I'd still love to know how it could happen. The only possibility is having two reverse dies in place, but how that could be done on a one-off basis seems far-fetched?

[Hussulo 6]

Heres one for sale by Northeast numismatics:

http://www.northeastcoin.com/popupcontainer.jsp?include=/popup/viewimage.jsp&itemkey=zi29_127177608

I'd still love to know how it could happen. The only possibility is having two reverse dies in place, but how that could be done on a one-off basis seems far-fetched?

I think the misleading part is that these are often referred to as errors, when in fact there is no way they could have been struck in error. Someone at the mint has decided for whatever reason to insert two obverse or reverse dies. I guess they should be classed as trial pieces.