1993 Nickel Error List with Pictures
One coin carries two different years: a 1993 nickel design stamped over a finished 1992 cent. That unusual piece sold for $6,900 at Heritage in September 2010.
The 1993 nickel errors discussed here have estimated values from $5–$8,000. They range from a fine line at Jefferson’s nose to overlapping designs and a remarkably thin blank.
Follow the visible feature first, then compare the weight, edge, and design using the checks below.
1. 1993 Jefferson Nickel Spike Head Die Cracks
A raised line can run from the rim toward Jefferson’s nose, sometimes crossing the nearby lettering. It comes from a crack in the die, the steel tool that stamps the design.
The Cuds on Coins catalog records several Philadelphia examples with different paths. Two described lines pass through different parts of the E in WE.
One of those examples also has a back crack from Monticello’s left base toward the rim. These extra lines are small changes in the working tools, rather than damage unique to each finished coin.
Estimated Value
A reasonable estimate is $5–$75 for a clear nose-to-rim crack, depending on its strength and the coin’s surfaces. Thin lines that disappear in ordinary lighting tend toward the lower end.
The catalog identifies several patterns but does not provide sale prices for them. This range compares small modern nickel cracks, rather than treating each catalog entry as a rare high-value coin.
A stronger, easier-to-photograph ridge is generally more appealing than an uncertain-looking scratch.
How to Identify
Look at WE beside Jefferson’s face and follow the line toward his nose with a 10× magnifier. The catalog photographs help distinguish lines through the center of the E from those farther to its right.
Turn the coin over when matching the example with a crack at Monticello’s left base. That back feature should not be assigned to every nose crack.
A loose original normally weighs 5.00 grams on a digital scale and measures about 21.21 millimeters with calipers. Inspect the surface in low light after those checks: the line should rise from the metal instead of cutting a trench through it.
2. 1993 Jefferson Nickel Struck-Through Grease
One area of a nickel can look unfinished while the surrounding design remains sharp. Material filling part of the stamping tool may have blocked the image during the strike.
Grease mixed with debris is a common explanation for this kind of localized weakness. The 1993 year report points to the date, LIBERTY, and Jefferson’s hair, without identifying a separate coin for every location.
Wear usually changes a broader pattern of exposed surfaces. Polishing, chemicals, or a weak blow can also erase detail, so a missing letter needs context.
Estimated Value
Estimate $5–$100 for a clear blocked area on an ordinary 1993 nickel. Small missing details on worn coins usually fall near the bottom, while larger interruptions can attract more interest.
There is no directly matched original sale for the year report’s individual weak areas. The range uses comparable modern grease-related striking errors.
The surrounding design should remain useful for identification; a coin worn smooth across both faces is a poor comparison.
How to Identify
Compare the weak spot with the closest sharp letters under a 10× magnifier. A local blockage can interrupt one feature without erasing everything nearby.
Next, examine the high points of Jefferson’s portrait. Smooth rubbing across his cheek and hair can explain missing detail through circulation wear rather than a striking error.
Calipers and a digital scale can check a loose coin against roughly 21.21 millimeters and 5.00 grams. Acid or heavy polishing may reduce its metal as well as its design.
Keep the coin dry and do not scrub the weak area. Look for a gradual loss of struck detail bounded by undamaged, sharper design instead of fresh polishing scratches.
3. 1993 Jefferson Nickel Broadstrike
A wide border can surround a complete Jefferson design when the blank spreads without the normal restraining ring. The ring is called the collar, and this result is a broadstrike.
Philadelphia examples include a PCGS MS62 coin and an older catalog entry described as struck on a Type One blank. Type One means the blank had not yet received its raised starting rim.
That older coin has an indentation at the left front edge. Its presence does not automatically establish another error or explain every broadstruck nickel.
Estimated Value
Use an estimated $15–$200 for a genuine broadstrike, with attractive expanded examples toward the higher end. The older Type One listing sold for $6.90 at Heritage in June 2000.
That coin was cataloged as MS65 without a grading-service holder; the description is not proof of third-party certification. Its old result is historical context rather than a current offer.
The separately certified MS62 example confirms another case but supplies no usable public price here.
How to Identify
Begin with the edge profile, using a normal nickel beside it. An expanded border should explain why the coin is wider, not merely why its rim looks battered.
Use calipers across several spans against the normal 21.21-millimeter diameter. A 10× magnifier helps find impact marks, scraping, or flattened letters that suggest later squeezing.
Now trace the full outer lettering on both faces. A broadstrike retains the complete design, whereas an off-center strike can send part of it beyond the blank.
A digital scale should show close to the original 5.00 grams if metal remains intact. A missing raised starting rim needs its own edge evidence; extra width alone cannot establish a Type One blank.
4. 1993 Jefferson Nickel Improper Annealing
A nickel can develop unusual color while its blank is heated before striking. This preparation step, called annealing, can change the surface when heating conditions go wrong.
A Denver 1993 example graded NGC MS63 appears in a four-coin auction group. The other coins have different dates and should not supply its exact color pattern.
Its Full Steps description concerns the sharp steps on Monticello, not another error. The coin remains a copper-nickel alloy piece, so reddish patches do not automatically mean that an outer metal layer is missing.
Estimated Value
For a correctly identified annealing error, estimate $25–$200. Original texture, attractive color, and a clear explanation matter more than darkness alone.
The four-coin group containing the 1993-D example brought $322 at Heritage in September 2010. That payment also covered three other dates, so it is not a standalone price for this nickel.
The estimated range instead uses comparable individual nickel annealing errors, with damaged or chemically colored coins excluded.
How to Identify
A nickname such as copper-colored nickel does not explain what happened. Under a 10× magnifier, inspect the edge for peeling plating and both faces for rough corrosion or signs of later heating.
Keep the surface untouched while comparing it with an identified annealing example. Smooth color changes and rough chemical damage can look similar in a small photograph, so view the whole coin in neutral light.
Check a loose coin on a digital scale against 5.00 grams and use calipers against about 21.21 millimeters. A major shortage of metal needs a separate explanation; normal size plus a reddish surface alone still cannot establish a Mint heating error.
5. 1993 Jefferson Nickel Lamination
A thin flap or shallow exposed patch can appear when the nickel’s metal separates within itself. This is called lamination, even though ordinary nickels are not made with separate outer layers.
A Philadelphia year list reports the type without locating a particular flaw on a photographed coin. Its explanation should therefore begin with the actual layer rather than a guessed position.
The unusual thin, discolored coin discussed below also lost a surface flake. That does not establish that every 1993 lamination shares its low weight or unusual blank.
Estimated Value
An estimated $25–$250 fits an identifiable original separation on an otherwise ordinary nickel. A larger intact flap can be more appealing than a tiny rough patch.
The year list provides no matched sale for a distinct Philadelphia example. This is a comparison-based range for the visible separation, rather than a price assigned to the special thin coin.
Corrosion and deep scratches can reduce interest even if they make a damaged surface look dramatic.
How to Identify
Leave an attached flap where it is and support the coin so that nothing catches beneath it. Pulling it back can destroy the evidence of a natural separation.
Use a 10× magnifier to examine the boundary and any exposed interior. Copper-nickel metal separating within the coin differs from paint or plating lifting off its surface.
A digital scale may show less than the usual 5.00 grams if metal has already fallen away.
Measure intact spans with calipers against the normal 21.21 millimeters, keeping pressure away from the loose area. A broad seam around the edge can instead suggest joined pieces.
Photograph a thin layer meeting the original surface; a deep gouge without a layer needs a different explanation.
6. 1993 Jefferson Nickel Off-Center Strike, Including a Clipped Blank
The design can slide partly off the blank and leave an unused crescent beside it. Philadelphia examples range from small shifts to much more dramatic displacement.
One recorded coin combines a forty-five-percent off-center strike with a fifteen-percent curved clip. It has both unstruck metal and metal that was already missing before striking.
Denver off-center coins also appear in the year report, without a specific matched auction example. The Philadelphia coin’s percentages should not be borrowed for them, and its two errors still belong to one object.
Estimated Value
Ordinary dated off-center examples can be estimated at $25–$300, while an attractive off-center coin with a genuine clip can fit $100–$500. The combined example was graded NGC MS65, an unworn coin with relatively few marks.
Its listing establishes both features but does not supply a usable sale amount in the available record. These are comparison-based estimates rather than a claimed transaction for that piece.
Do not add two separate prices for its two features.
How to Identify
On the combined example, first separate the curved missing section from the unused metal beside the displaced design. A 10× magnifier helps examine the clip boundary for original metal flow rather than later cutting.
The off-center portion should affect both faces in a way that fits the same misplaced blank. Photograph the whole outline before estimating its percentage.
A digital scale compares an ordinary loose nickel with 5.00 grams; a substantial clip should reduce that weight. Calipers can record the remaining dimensions against the normal 21.21 millimeters.
Check that each part tells the same story: displaced designs explain the unused crescent, while the original clip explains the missing metal.
7. 1993 Jefferson Nickel Double Strike, Including a Flipover
A coin that returns between the tools can receive another portrait and building. If it turns over first, parts of Jefferson and Monticello may end up together on the same face.
A Philadelphia NGC MS66 example shows this flipover double strike with the second blow off center. A different Philadelphia coin received another strike seventy-five percent off center without that flipover description.
Turning around within the same plane is not the same as flipping over.
The designs left on each face reveal the difference more clearly than a guessed rotation angle.
Estimated Value
Estimate $100–$500 for a clear ordinary double strike and $400–$1,000 for an appealing flipover example. The Philadelphia flipover graded NGC MS66 brought $690 at Heritage in October 2021.
That grade describes an unworn coin with few marks. The sale provides a direct comparison for the overlapping portrait-and-building arrangement, rather than a guaranteed price for every doubled-looking nickel.
The separate seventy-five-percent second strike needs its own condition and design comparison.
How to Identify
Identify Jefferson and Monticello separately before trying to count the blows. A 10× magnifier can show whether both designs occupy one face, which supports a flipover between strikes.
Two Jefferson outlines alone do not establish a flipover.
Check the opposite face to see how its impressions fit the same sequence. Pressing finished coins together later can leave misleading sunk or reversed details.
Use a digital scale on a loose example against 5.00 grams and calipers against the original 21.21-millimeter diameter. A later off-center blow can spread the outline without removing the metal.
Match the extra portrait or building with its own strike boundary; a narrow shelf beside one letter is not another complete strike.
8. 1993 Jefferson Nickel Unusually Thin Blank with Annealing Changes
This Philadelphia nickel is unusually thin despite keeping the normal overall diameter. Specialist Mike Diamond measured it at 2.14 grams and found mottled coppery and nickel-colored surfaces.
Its earlier label described a defective layered blank, but his examination found no copper band in the edge. The metal exposed by a missing front flake also failed to show a normal copper core.
The surface fits an annealing problem, while the extreme thinness needs another explanation.
Thin metal stock and a foreign blank were possibilities, not established identities.
Estimated Value
For a professionally examined, comparably thin Mint-made piece, use an estimated $300–$1,500. That is a working range for the combination of an abnormal blank and altered surface, not a recorded sale of Diamond’s coin.
Ordinary discolored nickels belong in a different price range. The unusual weight needs documentation, and a supposed foreign-blank identity should not add a premium without evidence.
A chemically thinned or mechanically flattened coin would not qualify.
How to Identify
Begin with weight and thickness rather than color. A digital scale can compare the reported 2.14 grams with a normal nickel’s 5.00 grams.
Use calipers to check the diameter against about 21.21 millimeters and compare thickness with an ordinary nickel. The combination of low mass and full width differs from a small dime blank.
Examine the plain edge with a 10× magnifier for a copper band. Diamond’s examination found none, despite the old layered-blank description.
Keep remaining flakes intact and inspect exposed metal without scraping it. A similar color does not reproduce this unusual combination of full diameter, very low weight, and an edge lacking the claimed copper core.
9. 1993 Jefferson Nickel Struck on a Cent Blank
A copper-colored Jefferson nickel can be genuine when the press receives an unused cent blank. The smaller disk cannot hold the entire nickel design, so some outside lettering is incomplete.
A recorded Philadelphia example weighs 2.5 grams and was graded NGC MS66 Red. That weight belongs to the modern copper-plated zinc cent blank.
No earlier Lincoln portrait or Memorial needs to survive because the blank had not yet become a cent. This difference separates it from the coins below, which already carried cent designs before receiving the nickel strike.
Estimated Value
For a clear cent-blank error, estimate $500–$2,000, depending on preservation and readable design. Heritage sold the 2.5-gram Philadelphia NGC MS66 Red example for $1,495 in August 2010.
MS66 describes an unworn coin with few marks, while Red describes its copper color. A later two-coin lot also included a cent-blank nickel dated 1978, so that group’s price cannot be assigned to the 1993 coin alone.
How to Identify
Compare the weight and color together: the recorded coin weighs 2.5 grams and has the copper-colored surface of a modern cent blank. A digital scale reading near a normal nickel’s 5.00 grams would not fit that same explanation.
Inspect both faces with a 10× magnifier for cropped nickel lettering and any surviving older Lincoln design. An older cent image would change the identification from an unused blank to a finished-cent overstrike.
Calipers can compare the smaller disk with its original 19.05-millimeter cent diameter and the nickel’s 21.21 millimeters, allowing for spreading. Examine the edge for added plating; coating an ordinary nickel does not make its underlying metal a light cent blank.
10. 1993 Jefferson Nickel Struck over a Finished Lincoln Cent
Traces of a cent remain beneath the newer nickel design when a finished penny passes through the wrong press. Both the original cent strike and the nickel strike can be visible.
One Philadelphia example was made over a 1993 cent. Another crossed two years, with a 1993 nickel design over a cent dated 1992.
The older date is visible on the back of that second coin. Its presence shows that the smaller disk was already a finished cent, rather than simply an unused blank made from the same metal.
Estimated Value
Use an estimated $700–$8,000 for clearly identified examples, with exceptional preservation and two readable dates supporting the upper end. The 1993-over-1993 coin brought $1,140 in January 2023.
The NGC MS67 Red coin over the 1992 cent sold for $6,900 in September 2010. Its grade indicates an unworn surface with very few marks.
These are separate coins, so their dates, grades, and prices should stay together.
How to Identify
Record the dates before describing the coin as simply a 1993 error. On the cross-year example, the nickel design is dated 1993 while the surviving cent date on the back reads 1992.
Find the older cent details under a 10× magnifier and photograph their intersections with the newer nickel images. An unused copper-colored blank cannot supply those original Lincoln or Memorial traces.
Weigh a loose piece with a digital scale against a modern cent’s 2.50 grams, rather than the nickel’s 5.00 grams. Calipers may show expansion beyond the cent’s original 19.05 millimeters; the normal nickel diameter is 21.21 millimeters, but the overlapping designs establish the strike sequence.
Conclusion
The estimated $5–$8,000 range spans small cracks through exceptional nickel designs stamped over finished cents. A price for one unusual piece should stay with that piece, especially when it combines several errors.
A cent blank and an already struck cent leave different evidence. So do a small blank and the full-width 2.14-gram thin example.
Keep both faces, the edge, and any loose layer intact when documenting a find.