1868 Half Dollar Error List with Pictures
An extra piece of a digit can hide below the date on an 1868-S half dollar. One confirmed example, graded PCGS VF30, sold for $312 at Stack’s Bowers in March 2020.
Other 1868 half dollar errors have raised lines, repeated date strokes, or missing metal. The worn-coin estimates below range from $250 to $1,200, with different checks for each feature.
Read on to learn where to look, including beneath Liberty’s elbow and along the edge.
1. 1868-S Liberty Seated Half Dollar Misplaced Date (Estimated Up to $800)
Look below the date, among the small teeth around the border. Some 1868-S half dollars have part of an extra digit hiding there.
It began when a date punch entered the wrong place on a die, the steel tool that stamps coins. Later strikes copied that stray mark onto the silver.
This is called a misplaced date. The properly positioned date remains above the misplaced fragment.
More than one San Francisco variety is known. Their extra fragments need not sit beneath the same digit, so compare the exact arrangement rather than treating every raised mark as a match.
Estimated Value
An estimated $250–$800 suits worn examples with an identifiable misplaced digit. A PCGS VF30 example of the variety called WB-1 sold for $312 at Stack’s Bowers on March 24, 2020.
That recorded sale gives a starting point for a moderately worn coin. Less wear and clearer digit traces can support more; the price covers the whole coin, rather than adding a separate amount for each visible fragment.
How to Identify
Photograph the whole date and the border teeth below it together. A 10× magnifier can reveal the extra raised shape without losing its position beside the normal design.
Check for S on the back. An accessible coin can be measured with a digital scale and calipers against its original 12.44 grams and roughly 30.6-millimeter width; inspect the edge grooves too.
Now compare the date area with a confirmed example of the same variety. Cuts, dents, or rough corrosion can make a border tooth look like part of a digit.
A matching raised numeral fragment in the same place among the teeth is the useful clue. Its position relative to the proper date matters more than its size alone.
2. 1868 Liberty Seated Half Dollar Missing Drapery Detail (Estimated Up to $900)
The folds of cloth beneath Liberty’s elbow can be missing or faint. A published variety list calls this No Drapery on both Philadelphia and San Francisco halves from 1868.
The name describes what is missing. It does not establish why the detail disappeared, and it is not the original 1839 design also called No Drapery.
Polishing a die, weak stamping, wear, or later damage can each reduce detail for different reasons. Examine the nearby surface and the rest of the design before deciding what happened on a particular coin.
Estimated Value
Use an estimated $250–$900 for a worn example whose missing-cloth feature can be identified. Ordinary Philadelphia coins graded XF40 and AU50 sold for $300 and $504 at Heritage in April 2025.
Those prices represent lightly worn and almost unworn coins, not confirmed No Drapery sales. They provide a condition comparison; folds worn away through everyday use do not establish this variety or automatically place a coin near the estimate’s upper end.
How to Identify
Choose a normal 1868 coin from the same mint with similar wear. Comparing a heavily worn coin with a perfectly sharp photograph can make ordinary wear look unusual.
Keep both full sides in your photographs, including the motto on the back and any S mint letter. Normal width is about 30.6 millimeters and original weight is 12.44 grams; use calipers and a digital scale when safely accessible.
Inspect the edge grooves, then return to the elbow with a 10× magnifier. Scraping may leave fine lines or a hollowed patch where cloth detail once stood.
The best starting clue is missing folds beside otherwise similarly preserved design, with no signs that someone removed the metal afterward.
3. 1868-S Liberty Seated Half Dollar Die Cracks (Estimated Up to $1,000)
A fine raised line can record a crack in the stamping tool. Silver entered the crack under pressure, leaving a ridge on the coin rather than a cut into it.
Specialist Bill Bugert describes badly cracked dies used for 1868 San Francisco half dollars. Those tools sometimes remained in use after their surfaces began to split.
Several lines may form a recognizable pattern. Different dies cracked in different places, so one coin’s pattern does not apply to every 1868-S.
Whole-coin photographs help show the route. A close-up of one short line may leave its cause unclear.
Estimated Value
The estimated range is $250–$1,000 for worn coins, depending on their condition and how clearly the cracks show. An ordinary PCGS VF35 1868-S sold for $329 at Heritage in February 2026; an NGC AU58 brought $720 in April 2023.
These are general same-mint comparisons, not sales labeled with this crack pattern. Bold raised lines may interest specialists, but faint lines alone do not make a heavily worn coin a top-priced example.
How to Identify
A scratch and a die crack can cross on the same coin. Use a 10× magnifier and move the light so you can tell which line cuts into the surface and which rises above it.
Record the full route rather than joining unrelated marks in your mind. Fine cleaning scratches and corrosion channels can confuse a photograph taken from only one angle.
Verify the S and the grooves around the edge. A digital scale and calipers can compare an accessible coin with the original 12.44 grams and about 30.6 millimeters.
Return to the line under low, angled light. A continuous raised ridge across the surface supports a cracked die; a channel cut down into the silver points elsewhere.
4. 1868 Liberty Seated Half Dollar Repunched Date (Estimated Up to $1,200)
An extra stroke beside a date digit may be part of an earlier impression. If a worker punched the date into the die twice with a small shift, both positions could remain visible.
This is a repunched date. Unlike a misplaced digit down in the border, the extra parts sit close to the intended date.
Published variety lists include Philadelphia examples for 1868. The feature needs recognizable pieces of repeated numerals, not just thick-looking edges.
Coins from the same die repeat the arrangement. Wear can weaken the small strokes, but it does not change where they originally appeared.
Estimated Value
Allow an estimated $300–$1,200 for recognizable examples, from worn coins to those with little wear. Ordinary Philadelphia comparisons include an ANACS XF45 at $480 in December 2025 and a PCGS AU53 at $930 in September 2025.
Both were Heritage sales, not transactions identified here as repunched-date examples. They give whole-coin condition benchmarks; clear extra date strokes can add collector interest, but the estimated range is not a recorded variety-specific sale range.
How to Identify
Check all four digits before enlarging one apparent extra stroke. The spacing and neighboring shapes help show whether an earlier date impression fits the coin.
Philadelphia examples have no mint letter. Use a digital scale and calipers on an accessible coin to compare with 12.44 grams and about 30.6 millimeters, and inspect its edge grooves.
Under a 10× magnifier, look for a recognizable portion of a second numeral. A nick, scratch, or flat shelf along a digit can imitate one small piece.
Change the light and compare with a confirmed example. Several matching raised strokes beside the date give a stronger answer than one thick edge or an unusual-looking mark.
5. 1868-S Liberty Seated Half Dollar Straight Clip (Estimated Up to $1,200)
A straight section of missing metal can begin before the design is stamped. Coin blanks—the round metal discs—were punched from a strip, and a punch running past its edge could leave an incomplete disc.
That is a straight clip. It differs from a straight cut made through a finished coin.
A seller listing reports an 1868-S example. The description does not establish a confirmed grade, authentication, or the position of the missing section.
The physical edge therefore matters. The original design and rim should fit a blank that was already incomplete when it reached the press.
Estimated Value
A verified straight clip on a worn 1868-S has an estimated $300–$1,200 range. Ordinary same-mint sales of $329 for VF35 and $720 for AU58 offer useful condition comparisons.
The higher allowance is an estimate for a clear, authenticated mint error, not a sale price for the seller’s reported coin. If someone cut the edge after minting, the coin would lose the basis for that added error value.
How to Identify
A front-only photograph can hide a saw cut. Inspect the straight boundary from both sides and directly along the edge with a 10× magnifier.
Look for filing lines, sharp burrs, or crushed letters beside the gap. Weakness on the opposite rim can support a clip, but it does not prove one by itself.
A digital scale should show weight below the original 12.44 grams, depending on how much silver is missing. Calipers may still read about 30.6 millimeters across an intact part of the coin.
Check the remaining edge grooves. The key is how the original stamped surface meets the incomplete edge: it should fit missing metal before stamping, rather than show a later cut through finished detail.
Conclusion
An extra digit below the date is different from a repeated stroke beside it. Likewise, missing cloth detail and a missing piece of silver require different explanations, even though both can catch your eye immediately.
The estimated $250–$1,200 range covers several levels of wear. Keep the mint letter, complete date, elbow area, and edge in your photographs so a small feature can be checked in the context of the whole coin.