Expert: Ronald Fern - 6/4/2010

Question
i have a 1983 dime mint can't make out. it is struck off center to the top right but right in the center on the face of the coin there is a circle indented on the back around the edges you can't make it out that it is a dime except dead center were the indention is.you flip the coin 90 degrees and the torch on the back runs side ways but all you can see is right in the indention.wondering if you have seen any thing like it and a guess if it is worth any thing. thank you for your time.

Answer
Hi Greg:

Thanks for the question.

It is difficult to answer your question without a photo or seeing the coin, but I'll try. If you want to ask a follow-up question by providing a photo of the coin, or more of a description, I'll modify the answer, if required. It could be altered, damaged, real, or a combination of these. Let's look at the possibilities.

The off center sound real. This is a result of the blank not fitting properly into the die chamber when struck, with only the portion of the blank in the die area receiving the image. On clad errors, the retail value is approximately $15 to $25 to an interested collector, with the higher value going to an uncirculated error about 50% off center with the entire date showing.

From your description, your off center may have had another dime blank laying over part of the off center blank that was struck. This would be classified as an off center with an indent, and the retail value would increase to approximately $35 to $50 for an uncirculated example.

The off center is real and the indented circle is damage, as in the coin getting caught in a counting mechanism. This would be classified as an error coin with  damage, done after it left the mint, and it would have limited numismatic value, say maybe about $5.

An example of a real off center that was altered would be if someone tried to determine if the off center was real and "scratched" the surface of the coin, altering the error. This would have a value about the same as the damaged one, about $5.

I've provided two links for you to see what type of other non-error coins exist.
See link: http://coinauctionshelp.com/page15.html
See link: http://conecaonline.org/content/OhNo.htm

You may want to check ebay listings under US coins in the error category to see if your error is listed and what they are going for. You may also want to check out these links on error coin values:
http://www.coinsite.com/html/USErrorPrices.asp
http://www.minterrornews.com/priceguide.html

If you live close to a local shop, they should offer an opinion as to it's value and if it is authentic at no charge. Always try and get at least two opinions and try and deal with PNG dealers if possible. Here's a link to find one in your area: http://www.pngdealers.com/dealersearch.php

Please remember to go to the experts site to rate this answer. Check the nomination box on the rating page below any comments you may have.

Thank You and Good Luck in your collecting.