1866 Penny Error List with Pictures
A few repeated date strokes helped identify an 1866 penny that sold for $7,800 at Heritage in 2025. Its unworn MS65 Red grade and remaining copper color were also part of that result.
The 1866 penny error list below ranges from an estimated $30–$8,000. Some mistakes alter tiny letters; others turn the back almost upside down or leave a second strike at the edge.
Explore the examples to learn what each feature looks like and how to compare its whole-coin value.
1. 1866 Indian Head Penny Grease-Blocked Design
A letter or part of the portrait may appear weaker than nearby detail when grease blocks the stamping tool. The packed material prevents metal from reaching every part of the design.
A MyCollect record lists an 1866 penny as ANACS XF40 Brown, struck through grease. XF40 describes moderate circulation wear with substantial detail still present.
The collection text does not identify a particular missing letter or portrait feature. That position must come from the actual coin, not a generic example from another year.
Wear can also flatten details, but it usually affects exposed high points in a more familiar pattern.
Estimated Value
Estimate $30–$300 for circulated 1866 pennies with recognizable grease-blocked detail. The range includes the value of the underlying date and the coin’s remaining condition.
The recorded XF40 example provides a graded description, not a completed sale price. A small weak patch can have little extra value if buyers struggle to distinguish it from ordinary wear.
A larger, clearly original area of missing design may attract more interest. Cleaning or later smoothing of the surface instead calls for a different assessment.
How to Identify
The XF40 coin already has circulation wear, so begin by comparing the weak area with nearby details at a similar height. Equal flattening across exposed high points may simply show wear.
Examine the boundary under a 10× magnifier.
Grease-blocked detail must be separated from grooves made by grinding or smoothing the finished surface.
For a loose coin, a scale checks 3.11 g and calipers check 19.05 mm; a blocked design need not change either measurement. Leave a sealed example in its holder.
The collection entry does not name the affected letter. Compare the actual weak patch with the grading photographs instead of choosing an ordinary worn letter to fit the label.
2. 1866 Indian Head Penny Missing Metal Layer on the Back
A shallow area of missing surface can result when a weak layer separates from the bronze. Collectors call this a lamination, especially when a thin piece peels away.
A sales description identifies an 1866 penny with missing lamination on the back. The seller describes its wear as VG to Fine, so much of the finer detail has worn away.
That description does not identify an exact path across the wreath or lettering. It also does not establish independent grading.
A dent or patch of corrosion can leave a hollow too. The boundary of the missing layer helps distinguish these causes.
Estimated Value
For a worn 1866 penny with a modest genuine back lamination, estimate $35–$200. More distinct peeling on a better-preserved coin can fit roughly $100–$400.
An 1890 lamination graded NGC MS62 Brown sold for $104 in April 2010. That unworn, different-year example offers a comparison for the mechanism, not a sale assigned to the 1866 seller’s coin.
The amount of missing surface and any additional damage matter. A rough depression without a recognizable layer boundary is not enough by itself.
How to Identify
Place the back under low side lighting and follow the edge of the missing patch with a 10× magnifier. A thin peeling boundary can reveal separation between layers of metal.
If any flap remains attached, leave it alone. Pulling at it can destroy the very feature being examined.
Use a scale to compare a loose coin with 3.11 g and calipers across intact edges against 19.05 mm. A small surface loss may change the weight too little to settle the cause.
Examine the hollow for sharp tool grooves or widespread pitting around it. Those signs need to be separated from a single layer lifting away beneath the original struck surface.
3. 1866 Indian Head Penny Clash Marks around CENT
Extra outlines around CENT can come from contact between the front and back stamping tools. With no blank between them, their designs damaged each other.
The marks then appeared on pennies struck afterward. This type of transferred design is called a die clash; a die is the steel tool that strikes the coin.
The 1866 catalog records a mark through the C and others to the right of the denomination. They belong to the illustrated tool pairing.
The same example also carries misplaced date fragments on the front. Those numeral fragments came from date punching, not from the clash.
Estimated Value
Use an estimated $40–$750 for 1866 pennies with identifiable clash marks across circulated and suitable better-preserved examples. Faint marks on an ordinary worn coin generally belong toward the lower end.
The example’s misplaced digits may contribute to the total as well. Both features must be assessed on the same coin rather than assigned two complete prices.
This is an estimated range, not a sale of the illustration. Clear transferred outlines make a stronger comparison than isolated roughness beside a letter.
How to Identify
Keep CENT and the space immediately to its right together in one photograph under a 10× magnifier. The fixed letters help locate the transferred outlines without mistaking another line elsewhere for the same feature.
A loose coin should be compared with 3.11 g on a scale and 19.05 mm using calipers. These marks change the impressed design rather than remove metal, so ordinary measurements are expected.
Move the lamp across the C and follow the additional trace into the surrounding surface. Its shape should agree with the catalog photograph, while a scratch cuts into the coin and may cross nearby raised letters without following the transferred pattern.
4. 1866 Indian Head Penny Raised Cracks and Rim Breaks
Fine ridges can run inward from the edge where a stamping tool cracked. Recorded front examples begin near one-fifteen, four-fifteen, and six-thirty.
If a larger piece fails, bronze can fill the damaged area and leave a raised patch connected to the rim. This is called a cud.
The 1866 catalog includes a back break from nine to ten-thirty and another near twelve. At the latter position, both retained and fully broken stages are known.
A separate front break lies from ten-fifteen to eleven. A retained piece can still transfer design, unlike an area where the tool piece has fallen away.
Estimated Value
An 1866 back-cud penny graded PCGS MS62 Brown sold for $504 at Heritage in March 2021. MS62 describes an unworn coin with noticeable marks.
Minor cracks on worn examples can fit an estimated $30–$150. Clear cuds and larger retained breaks can fit approximately $100–$1,500, depending on their size and preservation.
The $504 result provides a same-year comparison for a substantial tool failure. It is not an identical price for every crack or a specific match to each catalog position.
How to Identify
Choose the relevant face and clock position before enlarging a raised patch. The break at the back’s twelve-o’clock position is different from the front break near ten-thirty.
Use a 10× magnifier to look for design still present inside the boundary.
The 1866 catalog shows retained and complete breaks. Surviving detail can help distinguish those stages.
A scale and calipers check a loose coin against 3.11 g and 19.05 mm, but the actual edge deserves examination too. Folded bronze or an added blob may imitate a rim-connected patch.
For narrow lines instead, change the lighting and follow their full path inward. A tool crack leaves a ridge above the surface; a scratch cuts below it.
5. 1866 Indian Head Penny Broken Retaining Collar
The coin can bulge outward where the ring surrounding the blank was broken. That ring is called the collar, and it normally limits spreading during the strike.
The cataloged 1866 example is not perfectly round. Its metal moved at the broken parts of the ring, with unusual lines around nearby border teeth.
The same front tool also produced a repunched 18 and final 6. Those date strokes help identify the tool but do not themselves prove collar damage.
A broken collar affects a particular part of the edge. It differs from a blank struck entirely outside the retaining ring.
Estimated Value
Estimate $100–$2,000 for a genuine 1866 broken-collar error, allowing for circulated examples and stronger coins with obvious edge distortion. These are whole-coin estimates.
For comparison, an older listing priced an 1886 broken-collar penny graded NGC XF45 at $195. That was a different-year dealer listing, not a completed sale of the 1866 example.
The local edge feature should drive the comparison. A repunched date on an otherwise normally shaped penny does not automatically carry the same broken-collar value.
How to Identify
Record both the widest and narrowest spans of a loose coin with calipers, comparing the usual 19.05 mm. A scale reading near 3.11 g can show that an irregular outline still retains roughly the normal metal mass.
View the edge directly, then inspect the adjoining border teeth under a 10× magnifier. The collar description connects the outward movement with unusual lines in those teeth.
Check for filing grooves, a folded lip, or a squeezed edge before matching the repunched date. The date identifies the stamping tool, while local spreading and original edge surfaces help show what happened to the collar.
6. 1866 Indian Head Penny Nearly Half-Turn Back Rotation
The back can remain almost upside down after the upright front is flipped top to bottom. The catalog records a clockwise rotation of 178 degrees on an 1866 example.
This is close to half a turn. It reflects the angle between the two stamping tools rather than a coin moving during a second strike.
The listed front tool also developed cracks and a break near ten-thirty. Another recorded pairing has no back rotation, so those front marks alone cannot establish the angle.
Photographs turned independently for display can hide the mistake. The relationship between the two faces is what matters.
Estimated Value
A verified near-half-turn 1866 rotation can fit an estimated $150–$2,500 across circulated and stronger examples. The angle, preservation, and other features of the coin all contribute.
This is an estimate rather than a recorded final sale of the catalog example. It should not be used for a coin with only a small tilt caused by photography.
The front’s cracks or cud may help identify a pairing, but the same front used with a normally aligned back needs a different comparison.
How to Identify
Hold the date level and the front portrait upright. Flip the penny top to bottom around a horizontal axis without turning it sideways.
The back of an ordinary example should now be upright. The recorded error remains almost inverted.
Use a fixed straight line and a protractor on photographs to measure the angle. Repeat the flip to exclude hand movement.
A 10× magnifier helps locate the shield’s center if wear obscures it. On a loose penny, a scale and calipers check 3.11 g and 19.05 mm but cannot establish the rotation.
The direct test is the nearly upside-down back appearing consistently after the same controlled flip.
7. 1866 Indian Head Penny Digits in the Necklace and Lower Border
A tiny date stroke can sit among the necklace beads instead of beside the normal date. The well-known 1866 Snow-1 pattern includes a misplaced 1 there and extra 6 fragments in the lower border.
The date punch touched the stamping tool outside the intended date position. The tool retained those small parts of the unwanted impression.
Another recorded variety has fragments of 866 among the border teeth. Its positions need a separate photograph.
Snow-1 also doubles part of LIBERTY. The misplaced digits and repeated headband letters have different causes, even though they appear together on the same penny.
Estimated Value
For identified 1866 misplaced dates, estimate $75–$3,500 across circulated and better-preserved examples. The exact pattern and the amount of original detail matter.
A Snow-1 coin with the accompanying doubled front sold for $1,380 in July 2022, in MS64 Brown. That result concerns an unworn example with noticeable marks and brown surfaces.
Its misplaced digits are part of the same coin. Do not add the $1,380 again when evaluating the headband doubling, or apply it automatically to the separate 866-border variety.
How to Identify
For Snow-1, compare the necklace beads under a 10× magnifier and look for the straight part of the extra 1 between the normal rounded details. Then examine the border beneath the date for the separate 6 fragments.
On a loose example, a scale and calipers check the usual 3.11 g and 19.05 mm. Leave dirt in place rather than scraping the small marks.
The 866-border variety needs a view wide enough to include the complete normal date and its lower teeth. Match the raised numeral fragments to those fixed points; the necklace’s normal beads and the border’s ordinary teeth should not be mistaken for extra digits.
8. 1866 Indian Head Penny Doubled Headband Letters
The headband letters can contain extra edges that were already part of the stamping tool. On Snow-1, the affected area extends through IBERTY.
A separate 1866 example has its repeated detail concentrated at TY. The shorter pattern should not be expanded into the full Snow-1 description.
The tool received more than one slightly shifted design impression while it was being made. Later coins copied the repeated letter shapes in a single strike.
Normal raised outlines around some Indian cent details can look similar. The specific headband pattern matters more than finding any thick letter elsewhere on the portrait.
Estimated Value
A Snow-1 MS64 Brown example brought $1,380 at Heritage in July 2022. A separate MS63 Red-Brown coin sold for $1,440 in May 2023; both were unworn, with different surface colors and marks.
Estimate $75–$4,000 for identified 1866 doubled fronts across worn and high-grade examples. Strong readable headband letters support closer comparison.
Snow-1 also has misplaced digits, so those features receive one whole-coin price. The separate TY variety needs its own pattern match rather than inheriting every Snow-1 result.
How to Identify
Check which headband letters remain readable before selecting a comparison photograph. Heavy wear can merge the extra strokes into one broad shape.
Under a 10× magnifier, compare the pattern across IBERTY for Snow-1, or concentrate on TY for the separate example. Move the light to confirm that the second edges are raised metal rather than reflections.
Keep a certified coin sealed. A loose cent can be weighed on a scale against 3.11 g and measured with calipers against 19.05 mm.
Compare the whole visible letter pattern instead of one thick serif, the small projection at a letter’s end. A shallow shelf following a digit or letter can result from movement during striking and does not establish this doubled tool.
9. 1866 Indian Head Penny Double Strike with a Small Second Impression
A tiny extra piece of design near the edge can record a second blow from the press. On the documented 1866 example, the second strike was ninety-five percent off-center.
Only a small part of the coin therefore met the stamping tools during that later blow. This percentage does not mean that ninety-five percent of the original coin is missing.
PCGS graded the example Fine 12, showing considerable wear but readable major details. Heritage and GreatCollections have both listed this kind of 1866 double strike.
The extra impression must be distinguished from a damaged rim or marks from a broken tool.
Estimated Value
The PCGS Fine 12 double strike sold for $503.70 at Heritage in February 2010. That amount is a completed sale, unlike a later listing with no visible final price.
Use an estimated $400–$5,000 for genuine 1866 double strikes across circulated and stronger preserved examples. Clear evidence of both blows helps establish the comparison.
The small size of the second impression does not alone determine value. Original surfaces and the legibility of the earlier design matter too.
How to Identify
Under a 10× magnifier, separate a recognizable design fragment in the small edge impression from the earlier portrait or lettering beneath it. Photograph the overlap with enough surrounding detail to show where the later blow landed.
Turn to the corresponding area on the back and compare whether its extra impression fits the same second blow. A scale checks a loose example against 3.11 g, and calipers record any expansion from the usual 19.05 mm.
Inspect the edge for cutting, a join, or metal pushed inward by damage. A recognizable piece of the second design should extend into the overlap, rather than ending as an unexplained dent at the rim.
10. 1866 Indian Head Penny Twenty-Percent Off-Center Strike
The design sits low on the published 1866 off-center penny, with part of the intended image missing the blank. An untouched crescent remains beside the struck area.
The Xan Chamberlain Collection description gives a twenty-percent shift toward six o’clock. NGC graded the example MS64 Brown, an unworn coin with some marks and brown surfaces.
There is one displaced strike here. It differs from the Fine 12 coin with a small second impression at the edge.
The metal in the blank crescent was not cut away. It remained outside the area reached by the stamping tools during the blow.
Estimated Value
For circulated 1866 off-center pennies with readable dates, estimate $200–$1,000. Well-preserved examples with attractive original surfaces can fit approximately $1,000–$6,000.
The MS64 Brown collection example belongs to the unworn group, but no final sale is assigned to its photograph here. Its grade contributes substantially to the whole-coin comparison.
A twenty-percent shift on a worn or damaged coin need not command the same amount. Consider the preserved date, visible displacement, and remaining surfaces together rather than using the percentage alone.
How to Identify
Photograph the full front with 1866 level at the bottom. Compare the lower, six-o’clock strike position with the published example instead of estimating direction from a rotated photograph.
Under a 10× magnifier, inspect the boundary between struck metal and the untouched crescent.
Measure a loose coin in several directions with calipers against 19.05 mm and weigh it on a scale against 3.11 g. A changed outline does not necessarily mean that metal is missing.
The collection illustration shows the whole coin. Check the back’s design boundary too: the two faces must fit the same misplaced blank rather than an offset visible on only one face.
11. 1866 Indian Head Penny Repunched Date
The first half of the date can show earlier strokes below the normal digits while the 6s show traces above. These opposite directions reveal another position of the same date punch.
On RPD-005, a remnant lies below the small top projection of 1 and another inside the upper loop of 8. The final 6 has an earlier stroke above it.
Snow-2 is a separate pattern with repunching in 18 and 66. Its strong examples should not be identified from only the RPD-005 positions.
The dates were repeated while making the stamping tool. They are not evidence of another year underneath.
Estimated Value
A Snow-2 example graded MS65 Red brought $7,800 at Heritage in 2025. Its unworn condition and strong copper color explain why it exceeds many brown circulated comparisons.
Estimate $75–$8,000 for identified 1866 repunched dates across worn coins and high-grade red examples. The particular pattern also matters.
For perspective, a Snow-2 MS65 Red-Brown example brought $950 in April 2023. These are different whole coins, not proof that every repunched date deserves the highest result.
How to Identify
Keep the complete date in one magnified photograph, then compare where each earlier stroke lies relative to its normal digit. For RPD-005, inspect below the 1’s top projection, inside the 8’s upper loop, and above the last 6.
A 10× magnifier helps show the thin curves without relying on a bright reflection.
Check a loose bronze cent with a scale and calipers against 3.11 g and 19.05 mm. A broken collar may accompany this date tool, so unusual width needs its own edge examination.
For Snow-2, use its separate date photograph and compare both 6s. Matching the earlier strokes across several digits is more reliable than assigning the variety from one thick numeral.
Conclusion
Date fragments, faint transferred outlines, and damaged-tool marks ask for close inspection. A nearly inverted back or an extra edge strike instead requires a clear view of the whole coin.
The estimated range in this list is $30–$8,000. Match the feature, wear, and surface color before choosing a price comparison.
A repunched date and rim break can share one penny without becoming two separately priced coins.