1906 Penny Error List with Pictures

A 1906 Indian Head penny made on Mexican gold had attracted bids above $50,000 by August 2022. NGC reported that amount before the auction closed; it was not a final sale price.

The 1906 penny error list also includes much smaller clues, from extra date strokes to feather-tip chips. Estimated values range from $5 to $100,000 across these very different coins.

Read through the visible features below to match the date pattern, tool marks, or unusual blank on your example.

1. 1906 Indian Head Penny Raised Texture from a Rusted Die

A rough-looking penny is not always a coin that rusted in storage. Small pits in a rusted die, the steel stamping tool, can leave raised texture when copper enters those pits.

Poliquin 26 records tool rust on a 1906 Indian Head cent. The same pairing also has a retained back break between nine and ten o’clock.

Those are different features of one coin. The rough texture comes from damaged tool surfaces, while the larger break outlines a fractured tool section.

Corrosion attacking the finished penny may instead leave pits, crust, or disturbed metal.

Estimated Value

Estimate $10–$150 for circulated 1906 examples with a clearly matched rusted-tool texture. Small roughness alone usually adds little unless it helps identify the cataloged pairing.

The larger retained break can also affect a Poliquin 26 coin’s appeal, but its value should be assessed with the texture as one piece. These are estimates rather than a recorded auction sale for this variety.

A damaged or corroded penny does not receive the same comparison simply because its surface looks uneven.

How to Identify

Move a lamp across the surface while looking through a 10× magnifier. Raised points catch the light differently from holes eaten into the finished penny.

Pits and crust on the coin itself suggest corrosion. Weigh a loose example on a scale against 3.11 g, since missing metal or thick deposits may change the reading.

Calipers should show about 19.05 mm across an undamaged cent. Neither measurement can establish that the stamping tool was rusty.

Compare the rough areas with Poliquin 26 photographs, checking whether their positions agree. On its back, the retained break between nine and ten o’clock provides another visible feature to match.

 

2. 1906 Indian Head Penny Die Clash

Faint parts of the opposite design can appear where they do not belong. A clash happens when the two stamping tools meet without a blank, the flat metal disc, between them.

The damaged tools can later copy those extra traces onto a coin. Poliquin 87 and 97 record clashed stages of different 1906 pairings.

Both also have repunched dates, so the small repeated date strokes have a different cause from the transferred design. Poliquin 97 additionally has tool-filing lines above the back shield.

Those lines and the date can help identify the pairing, but a scratch is not a clash.

Estimated Value

For recognizable 1906 clash traces, estimate $15–$300 across circulated and better-preserved examples. Stronger transferred outlines make a more useful comparison than faint unexplained lines.

The repunched date and other marks on Poliquin 87 or 97 contribute to the identity of the whole coin. Their estimated maxima should not be added together as separate purchases.

This range is an estimate for the visible combination and condition, not a reported sale of each numbered tool stage.

How to Identify

Place photographs of the front and back side by side, keeping both faces upright. Use a 10× magnifier to compare a suspected extra outline with the design on the opposite face.

For Poliquin 97, include the filing lines above the shield and its repeated date details. Those smaller marks help distinguish it from the separate Poliquin 87 pairing.

The tool-filing lines are raised on the coin. Scratches made after minting instead cut into its surface.

A scale and calipers can check a loose bronze cent against 3.11 g and 19.05 mm. Normal readings alone cannot prove that the tools clashed.

Trace the extra outline beyond any later scratches crossing it. It should remain consistent with part of the opposite design.

 

3. 1906 Indian Head Penny Curved Clip

A small arc is absent from the edge of the documented 1906 clipped penny. The dealer describes it as a five-percent curved clip.

NGC gave the coin a VF Details description with damage. That means it has the wear of a Very Fine coin and an additional surface problem.

The mint-made missing segment and later damage can exist together. A blank-cutting punch overlapping an earlier hole in the metal sheet can produce the original curved gap.

The listing does not state where the gap sits around the edge. Its position needs to be read from the coin itself.

Estimated Value

For the damaged circulated example, use an estimated $20–$100. A clearer, better-preserved 1906 clip can fit a broader $50–$350 comparison.

The Details description matters because the damage affects the complete coin, even if the clip itself is genuine. A price for a problem-free example should not be copied without adjusting that comparison.

The five-percent figure describes the reported missing area; it does not by itself set a fixed market price for every similarly sized gap.

How to Identify

Read the full grading description before examining the edge: this particular clipped penny also has later damage. Photograph that damage separately from the curved missing segment so that the two features remain easy to compare.

With a 10× magnifier, inspect how the rim flows into each end of the gap. Filing across a finished edge can leave sharp grooves unlike the rim formed beside an incomplete blank.

Weigh a loose cent against 3.11 g on a scale, and compare its intact width with 19.05 mm using calipers. Look across to the opposite rim for possible weakness, while keeping any dent from later damage separate from the original clip.

 

4. 1906 Indian Head Penny Back Struck Through Material

A patch of the back design was interrupted on the 1906 cent listed as reverse struck through. NGC graded the example AU58, meaning only slight circulation wear.

Material between the blank and the stamping tool can prevent detail from forming or leave a depression. The dealer listing does not identify the material involved in this example.

Its surface therefore needs to explain whether there is a distinct impression or a broader area of missing detail. A solid object and packed grease need not leave the same appearance.

A later scrape or dent can imitate either at first glance.

Estimated Value

Estimate $30–$500 for a confirmed 1906 back struck-through error, with the recorded AU58 example compared against similarly lightly worn coins. The size and clarity of the interruption affect where it fits.

This range is not a recorded final sale of that dealer-listed piece. Clear original surface around the mark helps a buyer distinguish the error from damage.

A claim about cloth, wood, or retained metal would require matching visible evidence before it could justify a more specific comparison.

How to Identify

Use a 10× magnifier to follow a letter or wreath detail into the interrupted area. Check whether it failed to form or was flattened after striking.

Then examine the nearby rim. A dent on the edge connected to the depression can point to a later blow.

Take a wider photograph showing nearby letters as well as the mark. A close-up without that surrounding design can hide the size of the affected area.

Record a loose coin’s weight on a scale against 3.11 g and its width with calipers against 19.05 mm. Keep the certified AU58 example sealed.

Leave any material lodged in the surface in place. Removing it could erase the clearest sign of what interrupted the strike.

 

5. 1906 Indian Head Penny Cracks, Chips, and Retained Rim Breaks

The ninth feather tip can carry a large raised chip, with smaller chips at the sixth and eighth tips. These marks belong to the recorded feather-chip example, not every 1906 penny.

Larger tool failures occur at the rim. Poliquin 1 has a retained back break between three and four o’clock, where part of the broken tool remained in place.

Other pairings show different rim patches or thin raised cracks. Poliquin 96 combines neighboring partial and retained breaks on the back.

Surviving design inside a bounded patch helps distinguish a retained section from a completely missing tool piece.

Estimated Value

Small raised cracks or feather chips can fit an estimated $5–$100. Clearer retained breaks and substantial rim cuds can range around $40–$750, depending on their shape and preservation.

These are whole-coin estimates for the particular combination. A repunched date beside a break helps identify a pairing, but does not create a second coin price.

The outline and remaining design should guide comparisons; a faint earlier crack may look very different from a later, more developed break.

How to Identify

Turn a suspected raised patch under a 10× magnifier to check for a seam or added metal around its base. A loose coin’s readings of about 3.11 g on a scale and 19.05 mm with calipers provide useful background.

For the feather-chip example, compare the ninth tip with the smaller marks at the sixth and eighth tips. This arrangement matters more than one isolated lump.

Poliquin 1 requires a different view: the back rim between three and four o’clock. Look for the outlined section and any design still visible within it.

For a thin line, move the light along its length. A scratch leaves a groove, while a crack in the tool produces a raised line on the penny.

 

6. 1906 Indian Head Penny Doubled Design

The back wreath has doubled detail on Poliquin 17. That coin also has misplaced digit tops below and to the left of the main 0 and 6.

The repeated back design was already present in its stamping tool. Other pairings can share that front date pattern without using the same doubled back.

Poliquin 19 records a different doubled area near three to three-thirty, together with misplaced 90 digits. A year guide separately reports front doubling around LIBERTY and the date.

That general front report needs its own visual match and should not borrow the back varieties’ identifying marks.

Estimated Value

For modest matched back doubling or a confirmed reported front pattern, estimate $20–$1,000 across different wear and preservation levels. Clear repeated design and a precise pairing match support stronger comparisons.

The front misplaced digits on Poliquin 17 do not by themselves establish its doubled back. A price chosen for that combination should include both features on the same coin.

These are estimates, not sale results for every catalog number or every thick-looking letter in the year guide.

How to Identify

Examine both sides of the back wreath with a 10× magnifier when checking Poliquin 17. Its misplaced 0 and 6 tops on the front are useful, but that front alone cannot establish the doubled back.

Poliquin 95 and 100 share the front pattern without automatically sharing the same back. For a loose bronze cent, use a scale and calipers to check the usual 3.11 g and 19.05 mm.

Those measurements will not distinguish these varieties, so photograph both faces before choosing a catalog number. Poliquin 19 needs a separate check near three to three-thirty on the back, where its doubled detail appears.

 

7. 1906 Indian Head Penny Misplaced Digits Below the Date

Tiny curved shapes can hide among the rim teeth beneath the date. These denticles are the small repeated border marks, not additional date digits themselves.

On a misplaced-date variety, an earlier date punch landed too low and left parts of numerals in that border. Poliquin 7 shows a trace below and to the right of the normal 0.

Other pairings expose tops of 90, 06, or 906 in different positions. Some also have repunching within the normal date or later cracks.

The extra shapes must match actual numeral parts rather than random lumps along the rim.

Estimated Value

An estimated $20–$1,500 covers identified 1906 misplaced-date varieties from worn examples through stronger, better-preserved pieces. The visibility of the tiny digit tops affects how easily a match can be demonstrated.

A year guide reports $325 for an AU55 combined misplaced-and-repunched-date example. AU55 indicates light circulation wear; the report does not provide a dated primary auction lot.

Use that reported amount as limited context, keeping the specific digit arrangement and full coin condition central to the comparison.

How to Identify

Keep the full date and its lower border in view under a 10× magnifier. One isolated curved bump can look convincing when its distance from the normal numeral is hidden.

For Poliquin 7, inspect below and to the right of the 0. Other varieties show different groups of exposed digit tops.

Take the photograph straight on so that the small border teeth do not hide those traces. Include nearby repunching or cracks when comparing a particular pairing.

A scale and calipers check a loose cent against 3.11 g and 19.05 mm. These measurements cannot separate a misplaced digit from a chipped tool.

Follow the tiny curve itself: it should fit part of a numeral, rather than form an unrelated lump.

 

8. 1906 Indian Head Penny Repunched Date

The date may show small earlier strokes beneath or inside its digits. A worker punched the date into the tool more than once, and a slight shift left part of the earlier impression.

Poliquin 2 shows earlier detail below the 1 and 9 and inside the 0. Other patterns shift different numerals in different directions.

The specially made collector coin called Proof 1 has an earlier 0 below the main 0. It needs comparison with other Proof coins.

Snow-20, also called FS-303, is listed as a repunched date rather than a confirmed 6 over 5.

Estimated Value

Estimate $15–$3,000 for ordinary 1906 repunched-date varieties, depending on the pattern, color, and condition. Proof 1 can be considered separately around $200–$2,000 for the complete collector coin.

A Greysheet auction-price listing reports $2,820 for a Snow-20 FS-303 graded PCGS MS66 Red in February 2017. That was an unworn, well-preserved red example.

The named comparison does not make every extra date stroke equally valuable, and a Proof’s underlying finish contributes to its price.

How to Identify

Keep a Proof coin protected while checking its collector finish and earlier 0 below the main impression. An ordinary loose cent can be weighed on a scale against 3.11 g and measured with calipers against 19.05 mm.

For Poliquin 2, use a 10× magnifier to compare the strokes below the 1 and 9 and inside the 0. Check the entire date together rather than borrowing another variety’s direction of repunching.

A low, flat shelf beside a digit can come from movement during striking. On FS-303, trace the recorded repeated date strokes without assuming that every extra curve belongs to a hidden 5.

 

9. 1906 Indian Head Penny Struck on a Mexican Gold Blank

Gold and an unusual lettered edge distinguish this penny from ordinary bronze cents. NGC identified a 1906 Indian Head design on a Mexican five-peso gold blank.

The coin weighs 4.1 g and was graded VF25, meaning clear circulation wear. It also has uneven detail, with parts of each face struck more strongly than others.

The edge retains INDEPENDENCIA Y LIBERTAD, the Spanish inscription associated with the Mexican blank. The auction catalog found no visible earlier coin design on the faces.

The blank was close to a cent’s diameter, so its weight and metal matter more than size alone.

Estimated Value

A practical estimated range is $50,000–$100,000 for this exceptional, professionally identified gold-blank error. NGC reported that bidding had already passed $50,000 in August 2022, before the September auction ended.

That amount was a bid level, not the final sale price. A present offer would still depend on the coin’s condition and confirmed identity.

This estimate concerns the rare striking error as a complete collectible, rather than the metal value of an ordinary Mexican five-peso gold coin.

How to Identify

The edge offers an unusual clue: INDEPENDENCIA Y LIBERTAD should be visible in the documented places. Read those letters with a 10× magnifier and compare their shapes with the published photographs.

The recorded weight is 4.1 g, well above a normal bronze cent’s 3.11 g. For a loose candidate, a precise scale matters more than calipers alone because both blanks are about 19 mm across.

Have a specialist test the metal without scratching or filing it. The documented alloy is ninety percent gold; keep the certified coin sealed and use its recorded measurements.

No earlier face design was visible in the auction photographs. Look for the edge lettering rather than expecting a Mexican portrait beneath the Indian Head design.

 

Conclusion

The 1906 date and nearby border contain many small varieties, while the gold-blank penny stands far apart in material and value. Estimated prices run from $5 for modest tool features to $100,000 for the exceptional gold error.

Use the full date and both faces when matching a variety, especially when the same front was paired with different backs. Keep Proof coins and ordinary strikes in their proper price comparisons.