PART VI. Striking Errors:

Mated Pairs

Definition: Coins that are struck together are usually separated during sorting and bagging.  If they end up in the same mint-sewn bag or ballistic bag, and if they are recovered and reunited, the two coins constitute a mated pair.

Sometimes more than two coins or planchets end up in the same striking chamber.  As a result, it is possible to assemble mated trios, mated quartets, and so forth, but these groupings are quite rare.

A mated pair should not be confused with a matched pair.  A matched pair is nothing more than two error coins that roughly fit together but were certainly not struck together in the same striking chamber.

A mated pair is shown below. The 1999-P Jefferson nickel at top left was converted into an obverse die cap. The top right image shows the working (reverse) face of the die cap. This die cap struck a planchet (shown at bottom) producing a generic capped die strike with a featureless obverse face.

All images are courtesy of Heritage Auctions.