Kate H. asks: What is the value of 1988 penny mis-stamped. The coin itself is not the correct shape and is only stamped, front and back half way.
Clipping the edges off of coins was an extremely common practice when coins were made of valuable metals such as gold or silver.The removal of tiny pieces of metal from each coin that passed through the hands of a clipper would add up, until an amount worth selling as bullion (often back to the mint where the coins had been made) or to a jeweler accumulated.
You have a cent struck on a clipped planchet, that is, an incomplete coin missing 10-25% of the metal. This results from an error in punching out blanks from metal strip. The punch accidentally strikes a portion of the strip already punched. They are described by collectors by their shape: curved, straight, ragged, incomplete and elliptical.
Years ago, these errors use to be difficult to find since the coins would get caught in counting machines and be retrieved and remelted. In the early 1980’s the Mint began weighing the coins instead of counting them resulting in large numbers of these errors finding their way into the stream of commerce. The value of these errors depends on the size and type of the clip (curved, straight, elliptical, partial, ragged). Some coins can even have multiple clips. Approximate value for the most common clips found on a 1988 cent: $1.
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- Clipping is the act of shaving off a small portion of a precious metal coin for profit. Over time, the precious metal clippings could be saved up and melted into bullion or used to make new coins.
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What is Coin Clipping?
Heavily clipped Elizabeth I shilling
Image courtesy of Mike Peel at Wikipedia (www.mikepeel.net)CC-BY-SA-4.0
When our currency was undermined by criminals.
Coin clipping is the practice of cutting small pieces from coins. Coins were once made of pure gold and silver, and through everyday use were subject to wear. It was not usual to receive a coin which was not perfectly round. So cutting or filing a small amount off the coin would probably go unnoticed. The cut-off pieces would then be melted into a bar and sold to a goldsmith, or used to make counterfeit coins.
The act of clipping was a serious criminal offence as it undermined the currency of the country. It was such a problem that in Britain clipping was high treason and punishable by death. In 1677, a judge at the Old Bailey Court in London observed that ' 'Tis sadly known how common that mischievous crime of Counterfeiting, Clipping, and Filing of his Majesties Coin is become in most parts, to the great abuse of all good Subjects.' [1]
The threat of hanging did not put off the criminals, for clipping could be profitable, and at its simplest, the only tools required was a file, some shears or strong scissors, and a melting pot.
The act of clipping was not just the occasional coin, it could be a well organised crime. For example, one woman arranged with various apprentices, servants and cashiers who were responsible for safe custody of their masters' money, to bring it her to be clipped and then returned to them. For each £100 of coin brought to her, she gave them £5. This gives an indication that in monetary terms clipping was worthwhile, but the sentence was not. She was drawn on an hurdle or sled to Smithfield where she was burned to death. [2]
Royal Mint in London
Image dated 1854. Courtesy of British Library on Flickr. NKCR
Various measures were introduced by the Royal Mint to stop clipping. Machines to make the coins, milling (ridges) around the edge of the coin and engraving up to its edge. Notably, the phrase Decus et Tutamen, 'an ornament and a safeguard', appeared on the edge of the Crown coin of Charles II. The same phrase appeared on the first issue of the £1 coin.
Coin Clipping
The problem was largely solved by changes to the metals with which coins are made. Coins are no longer made of any metal which is worthwhile clipping. However, they are still counterfeited.
Coin Clipping Jews
[1] and [2] www.oldbaileyonline.org
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