1860-O 50C Half Dollar -- Indented by Half Dime Planchet, Mated Pair -- MS63 PCGS....

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1860-O Half Dollar, MS63
Indented by Half Dime Planchet
Spectacular Mated Error Pair
The Subject of a Discovery Article in Coin World Magazine

1860-O 50C Half Dollar -- Indented by Half Dime Planchet, Mated Pair -- MS63 PCGS. Type One Reverse. WB-102, Die Pair 3, R.3. The "Weird Vertical Stripes" variety with crude vertical lines on the eagle's shield. An amazing mint error involving planchets of two different denominations. A half dime planchet and a half dollar planchet were fed together between half dollar dies, with the half dime planchet situated between the half dollar planchet and the reverse die. The half dollar planchet was indented by the half dime planchet during the strike, creating a mated error pair. Each of the coins on its own would be a spectacular error find, yet the two coins have remained together since the year Abraham Lincoln was first elected President, and the Pony Express began its brief service.
     The "fifty-five cent piece" displays rich steel-gray, walnut-brown, and cobalt-blue toning across the obverse. The reverse displays medium russet-red and lavender toning that deepens at the margins. The obverse has a normal appearance aside from a small pod-shaped strike-through near star 4. The lower stars are lightly brought up, but the strike is needle-sharp on Liberty's hair and adjacent stars. The reverse of the half dollar displays the large circular recession where it was indented by the half dime. The half dollar on a half dime planchet is uniface reverse and shows all of the eagle's shield, claws, and tail, as well as the mintmark and most of the arrows and HALF DOL.
     The mated pair was the subject of a February 27, 2023 article in Coin World by Paul Gilkes. In the article, PCGS numismatic director Steve Feltner stated "Of all the incredible mint errors that I have had the pleasure of handling over the years, this ranks very high on my list of favorites. My excitement was palpable as I discussed the incredible state of preservation both in technical grade and surface quality."
     The only comparable mated pair we could find in Heritage's auction archives is a 1973-S Ike dollar indented by an unidentified 1.73 gram planchet. That coin appeared as lot 3523 in our January 2008 FUN Signature and realized $40,250. The present mated pair, struck at the New Orleans Mint from Seated dies and offered in today's market, is certainly worth considerably more.

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