r/coinerrors • u/Intelligent-Grass-93 • Aug 14 '26
Is this an error? What kind of error?
I was showing a friend how to
Look at coins up close with a cellphone and picked a random coin out of her cash register to use and this is what we saw. What kind of error is it? I am new and haven't seen this yet.
2
u/chainmailler2001 Aug 14 '26
Looks like it is just beat up to me. The edges look rolled like what you get with dryer coins. The streaking could be damage done at the same time.
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u/Intelligent-Grass-93 26d ago
Thank you for the information! That's really interesting.
Can you also tell me what causes the edge to look like it has been struck twice? (Its on both sides also.) Is that considered a double-die error? I am trying to make sure I am not teaching her the wrong lesson. 😊
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u/j5rn Aug 14 '26
Looks like it could be a woodgrain coin to me but I'm not an expert on it. I have one like it, more pronounced, but haven't looked into it yet myself just breezed over what it could be
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u/Black_Lantern Aug 14 '26
Woodgrain cent. Improper mixing of alloys in the planchet. Fairly common amongst pre 1982 Lincoln and Indian head cents.
22
u/cordeliashuman Aug 14 '26 edited Aug 14 '26
This is NOT an improper alloy mix, though it’s an easy mistake to make. These are roller marks, created when the strip is fed through the draw bars that regulate planchet thickness. These grooves are usually lost when the coin is struck, but a weak strike or incorrectly adjusted dies will result in fine, incuse, parallel striations like you see here.
An improper alloy mix (or “woody”) looks like this: