Heritage’s various auctions taking place before, during and immediately after the Florida United Numismatists show, held this year Jan. 7 to 10 in Tampa, are a juggernaut that sets the pace for the U.S. rare coin market in the coming year. Heritage’s first U.S. Coins session, held on Jan. 6, featured some impressive error coins that were led by a crazy undated Roosevelt dime that was struck on a nail. Graded Mint State 65 by Professional Coin Grading Service, the error made national mainstream news and sold for a huge $42,300.

The Coin:
1943 Lincoln cent error, struck on silver dime planchet, EF-40

The Price:
$11,750

The Story:
Heritage’s FUN auctions had multiple 1943 Lincoln cent errors. These are popular with collectors since the 1943 Lincoln cent is an outlier in the series. The issue was generally struck on zinc-coated steel planchets that year to conserve copper for the war effort. The most valuable of the wartime off-metal errors are 1943 Lincoln cents struck on bronze planchets. More affordable, and visually similar to the steel cents, are 1943 Lincoln cents struck on silver dime planchets.

As dime planchets are slightly smaller than the cent planchets, the design is not fully struck at the edges. That the silver is similar in color to the zinc-plated steel makes it understandable that it would remain in circulation, undetected for some time to wear down to an Extremely Fine 40 grade. The PCGS-certified error sold for $2,820 at Heritage’s first U.S. Coin session on Jan. 6. Another example graded AU-50 sold for $3,290 in the same auction.