Part IV. Die Errors:

Collar Clash:

Misaligned collar clash

Definition: Collar clash located medial to the coin’s design rim.

A misaligned collar clash requires several pre-conditions:

1. A horizontal misalignment of the hammer die great enough to extend past the collar’s entrance.
2. Alternatively, you’d need a horizontal misalignment of the anvil die and collar severe enough to bring the edge of the collar’s entrance beneath the hammer die.
3. Lack of a beveled entrance, so that the ridged working face of the collar meets the top of the collar without any transition zone.
4. A collar that resists depression when struck by the hammer die (i.e., a stiff collar error).
5. A striking chamber that is either empty or occupied by a planchet that lies below the top of the collar.

As with any collar clash, the only hope of confidently identifying a misaligned collar clash lies among reeded issues. The ridged working face of the collar will leave a set of serrations that encroach onto the field portion of the die. On the coin, the characteristic serrations will be found in the field, rather than on, or at the edge of, the design rim.

This 1995-P dime displays a misaligned collar clash on its left side. The serrations produced by the clash extend from the internal margin of the design rim to the outermost portion of the field.