PART VI. Striking Errors:

Die Alignment Errors:

Dual Misalignment (of the Hammer and Anvil Dies)

Definition: A dual or bifacial misalignment consists of a horizontal misalignment of both dies. Typically, the misaligment seen on the anvil die is small, since the die neck is confined by the collar.  Most of the time the two misalignments will point in different directions.

This 1966 nickel shows a slight horizontal misalignment of the obverse (hammer) die toward 9:00.  It also shows a slight horizontal misalignment of the reverse (anvil) die toward 3:00.

There is one known example of a major horizontal misalignment on each face.  It’s a 2000-P Virginia quarter that was struck with inverted dies (reverse die as hammer die).  The reverse misalignment points toward 4:30.  An equally severe obverse misalignment points toward 4:00.  The two misalignments are nearly at right angles to each other.

This coin was produced at the end of a chaotic press run that produced an abundance of major die alignment and off-center errors.  These other errors consist of 1) major horizontal misalignments of the reverse die (about 10%) toward the southwest, 2) horizontal misalignments of the obverse die that range from 2% to 10% and that point south-southeast, 3) off-center strikes of about 12% that point toward 7:00 (i.e. planchet misfeed toward 1:00), and off-center strikes with a minor horizontal misalignment toward the southwest.  All these errors are well-distributed within six die stages (A-F).  The dual misalignment error belongs to a seventh die stage (G)

These photos depict the Virginia quarter just described.  The two misalignments are starkly evident.  Both faces show collar clash.  Collar clash is much more severe on the obverse face.

Please be aware that the appearance of a dual misalignment can be mimicked by the combination of a horizontal misalignment and a less severe off-center strike.

This 1999-D nickel has a major horizontal misalignment of the obverse (hammer) die of about 10% toward 10:00.  It doesn’t appear that large because the lateral die shift is partly offset by an off-center strike of about 5% toward 9:00.  The die shift and the direction of the planchet misfeed are nearly aligned.  This coin also has a vertical misalignment (tilted die error), with the elevated pole of the hammer die located at about 10:00.