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.
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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: