1845 Half Dollar Error List with Pictures

The Newman 1845 proof half dollar sold for $35,250 in April 2013. Its raised crack and small lump help identify that rare, specially made collector coin, but they do not give an ordinary cracked half dollar the same value.

The 1845 half dollar errors below span estimates of $100–$45,000. Read on to compare missing number strokes, extra O outlines, repeated dates, a missing clothing fold, and marks left by damaged stamping tools.

1. 1845 Liberty Seated Half Dollar Clashed Dies (Estimated Up to $600)

An unexpected outline can be part of the design from the other side of the coin. Such transferred shapes are called clash marks.

The steel stamping tools can mark each other when they meet without a blank, the round metal disc used to make a coin. Later coins may receive fragments of the opposite design.

The 1845 guide reports minor clashes without naming a mint, finish, or exact location. It therefore does not establish a particular eagle or portrait shape to expect, and an odd line needs a real design match before receiving that name.

Estimated Value

Estimated value is $100–$600 for worn examples with small, identifiable clashes. Much of the price depends on the underlying coin’s condition.

Ordinary Philadelphia 1857 halves graded XF40 and AU50 had reported sales of $240 and $338 in 2025. Those grades describe moderate and light wear.

They are different-year comparisons, not 1845 clash sales. The 1845 guide supplies the minor-clash report, while the estimate allows for the strength and clarity of the extra shape.

How to Identify

Select a trace long enough to compare with an actual feature on the opposite side. Photographs of both faces help show how the stamping tools could have transferred that shape.

Confirm the mint and finish before choosing the reference. A scale and calipers can compare the normal 13.36 grams and roughly 30.6 millimeters, and the edge should have grooves.

Use a magnifier and changing light to follow the trace. Scratches, polishing lines, and reflections can look unusual without matching another design.

A recognizable opposite-design outline in a physically sensible position is the direct first check, rather than how dark or shiny one mark appears.

 

2. 1845-O Liberty Seated Half Dollar Footless 1 (Estimated Up to $700)

Look at the bottom of the first number in 1845. On the Footless 1 variety, the small lower foot of that number is absent.

PCGS lists this feature among the New Orleans Large O varieties. The name concerns one part of the 1, not a generally weak or unreadable date.

GreatCollections listed an example as PCGS Genuine, meaning authentic but with a condition problem preventing a normal number grade. Wear or scraping can also hide the foot, so the remaining number and the nearby surface need comparison with an identified example.

Estimated Value

The year guide reports a $297 GreatCollections sale for a PCGS Genuine Footless 1. The corresponding 2024 listing identifies the variety, but its displayed starting bid is not itself the final price.

Estimated value is $200–$700 for identified worn examples. The reported sale provides a lower-priced comparison with a condition problem.

Cleaner surfaces and clearer nearby numbers can support more value. Genuine should not be treated as a problem-free numerical grade.

How to Identify

Find a normal 1845-O with similar wear and compare the lower end of the 1 at equal size. Follow the vertical stroke to where its missing foot would normally join it.

A magnifier should reveal whether scraping, smoothing, or broad wear removed the surrounding detail too. An unreadable patch alone does not identify the variety.

Confirm the Large O on the back and inspect the edge grooves. Use a scale and calipers on an unholdered coin to compare 13.36 grams and about 30.6 millimeters.

The characteristic missing foot surrounded by an intact surface gives the strongest quick comparison for the Footless 1.

 

3. 1845-O Liberty Seated Half Dollar O Over Horizontal O (Estimated Up to $1,000)

Inside the upright O below the eagle, part of an earlier O lies sideways. The remnant is most useful where it survives inside the upper part of the finished letter.

The O identifies New Orleans. A worker first punched it sideways into the steel stamping tool, then corrected it with an upright impression.

Both shapes could survive on coins made from that tool. A lump inside the O is not enough by itself, because a damaged tool or dirt in the opening can produce extra-looking metal without the recognizable curve of a sideways letter.

Estimated Value

Use an estimated $250–$1,000 for clear worn examples of O over Horizontal O. A published historical record lists a $329 sale for the variety in 2016.

A different 1845-O, with a repunched date and VF35 grade, sold for $348 in December 2025. VF35 describes moderate wear with substantial detail remaining.

That gives same-mint condition context, not the exact extra value of a sideways O. Clear identification and surface quality still matter.

How to Identify

Confirm the date and New Orleans mintmark before inspecting its interior. A scale and calipers can compare 13.36 grams and 30.6 millimeters, and the edge grooves should show no filing.

Place a magnifier over the upper interior of the O. Trace the extra curve and compare it with an identified horizontal-O photograph rather than an unexplained bump on another coin.

Inspect nearby surfaces for corrosion or attached material. The earlier letter should retain part of a recognizable oval turned sideways.

A recognizable horizontal oval inside the upright O is the direct identification test for this repunched mintmark, not simply extra metal in the opening.

 

4. 1845 Liberty Seated Half Dollar Repunched or Tripled Date (Estimated Up to $1,500)

Extra pieces of several numbers can remain when a date punch strikes the steel tool more than once. A tripled date records three placements of that punch, not three portraits on the coin.

Liberty Coin Service includes the 1845-O tripled date among notable varieties. Other New Orleans repeated dates and a minor Philadelphia example also appear in references.

Their exact extra strokes differ, so each needs its own photograph for comparison. The coin may have received only one strike.

The repeated numbers were already in the stamping tool. They appeared there before the round metal disc ever entered the press.

Estimated Value

December 2025 repunched-date sales included $180 for VG8, $210 for Fine 12, and $348 for VF35. Those grades range from heavy to moderate wear.

Modest worn examples have an estimated $150–$600 range. A clearer tripled date with moderate to light wear has an estimated $400–$1,500 range.

The guide’s $1,195 ANACS VF35 figure is an asking price, not a completed sale. It should not be applied automatically to Philadelphia’s minor extra strokes.

How to Identify

Read the mintmark first so a New Orleans comparison is not applied to a Philadelphia date. Check the edge grooves, then use a scale and calipers to compare 13.36 grams and 30.6 millimeters.

The Liberty Coin Service guide names the tripled-date category. A photograph of the specific identified example shows which number fragments belong to it.

Use a magnifier to compare the whole date before following each extra curve or stroke. A flat shelf or changing reflection does not demonstrate repeated punching.

Matching repeated number shapes within the date provide the focused first test, while doubled portraits would need a different explanation.

 

5. 1845-O Liberty Seated Half Dollar No Drapery (Estimated Up to $18,000)

A fold of fabric should sit in the open space beneath Liberty’s left elbow. On the No Drapery variety, that fold is missing.

Her left arm is on your right as you look at the coin. Checking the other elbow would lead you to the wrong location.

PCGS explains that heavy polishing of the front stamping tool removed the fold from its design. Later coins then came out without it.

Wear or smoothing can also erase the fold after a coin is made. Compare the nearby preserved design to help tell these causes apart.

Estimated Value

Estimated value is $200–$1,500 for collectible worn examples. Attractive unworn coins in MS62–MS64 condition occupy a separate $4,000–$18,000 range.

PCGS records $16,100 for an MS64 example in January 2010. The year guide also reports $960 for an AU50 in 2022, a coin with light wear.

Those are whole-coin prices. The high figure reflects scarce condition rather than a separate payment for an isolated missing clothing fold.

How to Identify

Compare the elbow area with a normal coin showing similar wear. The target is below Liberty’s left elbow, on the right side of the picture.

Under a magnifier, check whether nearby clothing and arm details remain clear. General wear or local smoothing can erase the fold for a different reason.

Confirm the O below the eagle, inspect the edge grooves, and compare the normal 13.36 grams and 30.6 millimeters with a scale and calipers. Those checks support identity but do not explain the missing fold.

A cleanly absent fold beside preserved neighboring detail is the decisive first comparison with an identified No Drapery example.

 

6. 1845 Proof Liberty Seated Half Dollar Die Crack and Chip (Estimated Up to $45,000)

On the Newman proof, a raised crack starts at the small lower-right tip of F in HALF. It runs into the smooth area below the nearby D.

A separate faint line above it connects the letters. Another identifying feature is a long raised lump below the left side of the 8 on the front.

Heritage described these marks when offering the coin as NGC PR65 in 2013. PR65 is a grade for this specially made collector proof, and a crack on an ordinary 1845 half dollar does not turn that coin into the same rare issue.

Estimated Value

The Newman NGC PR65 sold for $35,250 in April 2013. An estimated $30,000–$45,000 brackets that rare proof example.

Its price reflects the proof issue, condition, and ownership history. It is not an extra fee for the crack and small lump.

An ordinary coin made for circulation needs its own price comparison. Sharing the 1845 date or having unrelated tool damage does not place it in this range.

How to Identify

Establish the coin’s proof identity from its whole appearance and expert identification before using this price comparison. Normal measurements alone cannot prove that it was specially made.

A scale and calipers can check 13.36 grams and roughly 30.6 millimeters on an unholdered coin. Inspect the edge grooves without touching the delicate surfaces.

With a magnifier and angled light, follow the raised crack from F into the area below D, keeping the separate connecting line distinct. Then locate the long lump below the left side of 8.

The paired crack and lump provide a focused match only after the proof identity is independently established.

 

Conclusion

Estimated values run from $100 to $45,000, but that wide span covers very different coins. A small feature on a worn half dollar, an unworn No Drapery example, and the rare Newman proof need separate comparisons.

Look at the actual shape and location first: the missing foot on 1, a sideways O, repeated number strokes, or an absent elbow fold. The whole coin’s identity and condition determine which price range applies.