The official auctions by Stack’s Bowers Galleries and Heritage Auctions at the August 2016 American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money had something for everyone.

As Bill Gibbs discussed in his feature on error coins in the September monthly edition of Coin World, errors are among the most visually dramatic products to come out of the U.S. Mint and the ANA auctions had dozens of examples at nearly all price levels.

Here is one of three coins struck on the wrong planchets that caught my eye.

The Lot:

1942 Walking Liberty half dollar struck on a quarter dollar planchet, AU-58

The Price:

$12,337.50 

The Story:

Major errors on Walking Liberty half dollars are rare and this 1942 example struck on a planchet intended for a quarter dollar is one of perhaps five known. Like many errors, it happened during a busy time at the Bureau of the Mint as it was coping with the challenges brought on by World War II.

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The full date is not visible on this error, but the tops of the numbers present are sufficient to attribute it to 1942. It may be from the Philadelphia Mint, although the slab’s prongs prevent full viewing of the Mint mark area. 

Graded About Uncirculated 58 by Numismatic Guaranty Corp., it sold for $12,337.50 at the Aug. 11 Rarities Night sale. For major errors, the aesthetics are important, and this half dollar is well-centered without issues like counting-wheel damage or other impairments.

Keep reading about notable error coins sold during the 2016 ANA convention:

1989-D cent struck on copper planchet from before 1982 composition change sells at ANA

When a first-year Sacagawea dollar was struck on an Anthony dollar planchet