1890 Penny Error List with Pictures
An 1890 penny with a broad, indented shape sold for $517.50 at Heritage in September 2006. It weighed only 2.6 grams, but that did not establish that its blank belonged to another coin denomination.
This 1890 penny error list covers that unusual piece alongside repeated lettering, misplaced digits, clipped edges, and double strikes. Estimated values range from $5 to $3,500 across the examples below.
Read each visible feature before connecting an unusual mark with a price.
1. 1890 Indian Head Penny Reported Clip with Front Lamination
A seller describes a gap at three o’clock on a worn 1890 penny, together with peeling metal on its front. The listing calls the coin Good 6, a heavily worn grade.
The gap is reported as a clip, meaning metal was missing from the blank before striking. The peeling front layer would have a different cause within the alloy.
This seller report is not an independent grading-service confirmation of either feature. Its small edge gap still needs to be distinguished from a dent or later cut.
The two reported features belong to the same coin.
Estimated Value
For a verified modest 1890 clip, estimate $20–$300 depending on size, remaining detail, and surface condition. A heavily worn example would usually need a different comparison from an unworn one.
The seller’s listed $18.50 is an asking price for the reported clip-and-lamination coin, not an auction result. Its low grade and the need to examine both features limit the comparison.
Do not add a separate maximum lamination estimate to the complete coin’s asking price.
How to Identify
Begin at three o’clock on the seller’s reported example and inspect both ends of the missing area with a 10× magnifier. Look for a rim formed beside an incomplete blank, rather than one sliced through after the design was complete.
A scale can check a loose cent against 3.11 g, with calipers used across intact metal against 19.05 mm. A genuine missing segment can lower weight, but filing can do that too.
Compare the opposite rim for possible weakness and examine any metal pushed into the gap. Keep the front’s peeling layer separate: it does not prove that the edge gap is also mint-made.
2. 1890 Indian Head Penny Front Lamination
A thin layer can loosen within the bronze and lift from the surface of a penny. Collectors call that separation lamination.
Heritage recorded an 1890 cent with front lamination graded NGC MS62 Brown. That means an unworn brown coin with noticeable marks, not a modern plated cent losing its coating.
A separate auction seller describes another layer defect below the date. Its exact route should not be assigned to the NGC example without matching photographs.
The metal may remain attached or break away, leaving an uneven opening that follows the weak layer within the alloy.
Estimated Value
The NGC MS62 Brown front-lamination coin sold for $104 at Heritage in April 2010. That is a whole-coin result, including its unworn condition.
Estimate $10–$400 for ordinary 1890 laminations, from small worn examples to clearer defects on better-preserved coins. The length, stability, and surviving detail affect the comparison.
The separate below-date seller example does not inherit the $104 result. A bid shown in a listing is also different from a completed sale price.
How to Identify
Leave any lifted layer in place; pressing it flat or pulling it up can destroy the feature. Photograph its edge from the side before handling the coin further.
Examine that boundary through a 10× magnifier. A thin layer should connect to the surrounding metal rather than resemble a separate transparent coating.
For the below-date report, keep the entire date visible in the photograph.
A scale can compare a safely handled loose example with 3.11 g. Use calipers away from fragile edges against the usual 19.05 mm diameter.
Look inside any opening for the continuation of the thin layer. A deep isolated gouge without that layered boundary needs a different explanation.
3. 1890 Indian Head Penny Cracks and Rim Breaks
The back can show a retained break between nine and ten-thirty on one recorded pairing. The fractured piece of the die, the steel stamping tool, stayed in place long enough to leave some design inside its boundary.
Other examples have front rim breaks near seven to eight-fifteen or eight-thirty to nine-thirty. They are different patterns, not one continuous ring of damage.
Thinner cracks also cross parts of the portrait side or wreath. Their raised lines form when metal enters openings in the tool.
A scratch made on the finished penny instead cuts downward.
Estimated Value
An estimated $5–$100 suits smaller cracks, while clearer retained breaks and substantial rim patches can fit about $50–$1,000. These are ranges for different visible features and conditions.
Some cracks accompany a date variety, making the full coin the proper comparison. A valuable date pattern should not be counted again as a separate purchase.
Before using the stronger end of the range, compare the actual size and remaining design with a similar break rather than a faint early line.
How to Identify
Inspect the physical edge first for a dent or folded rim beside a suspected large patch. Use a scale and calipers on a loose example against 3.11 g and 19.05 mm, while checking for added metal.
For the retained back example, trace the boundary between nine and ten-thirty at 10×. Design remaining inside it helps show that part of the broken tool still struck the coin.
For a thin crack, follow the raised line through the neighboring design. A scratch can push small ridges beside its groove, so inspect the middle of the line rather than judging it by its bright edges alone.
4. 1890 Indian Head Penny Displaced Clash Mark on the Back
An extra trace lies in the space between ONE and CENT on the recorded clash variety. More specifically, it sits between the N above and the EN below.
The front and back tools struck one another without a blank between them while out of their normal alignment. That contact transferred part of the opposite design to the tool.
Later coins received the extra mark during an otherwise ordinary strike. This is a displaced die clash, not proof that the whole penny was struck off-center.
A random scratch crossing the same space is a different feature.
Estimated Value
Estimate $25–$1,200 for a matched 1890 displaced clash, with stronger preserved marks supporting higher comparisons. A faint unexplained line should not be priced like a clearly identifiable transferred design.
A year guide reports $900 for an MS63 Brown example in 2019, meaning an unworn coin with noticeable marks. The report does not give a primary auction lot.
Treat that amount as a reported comparison, while judging the actual trace and surface condition on the coin being examined.
How to Identify
Place the back photograph beside an image of the front design. At 10×, inspect between the N of ONE and the EN of CENT for a trace matching part of that opposite design.
Follow the line under angled light without treating every nearby scratch as part of it.
Compare both sides of the word spacing in a full photograph. A close crop of one line can hide whether it occupies the cataloged position.
A scale and calipers check a loose cent against 3.11 g and 19.05 mm. Those normal measurements cannot establish a clash.
Check whether the normal design remains centered despite the extra trace. The displaced tool contact does not require the finished penny itself to be off-center.
5. 1890 Indian Head Penny Single Off-Center Strike
A strip of blank metal remains where the stamping tools did not meet the full disk. Part of the design is cut off across the opposite side.
Mint Error News illustrates an 1890 penny ten percent off-center toward eight o’clock, graded NGC MS63 Brown. It is an unworn example with noticeable marks.
Heritage separately lists a twenty-percent coin graded PCGS Good 4, meaning heavy circulation wear. That worn coin should not borrow the first example’s eight-o’clock direction.
Neither single-strike description establishes a second impression; repeated designs belong to the separate double-strike examples.
Estimated Value
Use an estimated $75–$1,500 for dated 1890 single off-center pennies across modest shifts and more dramatic examples. A readable year, amount of missing design, and surface condition shape the comparison.
A year guide reports $188 for an AU58 ten-percent example in 2015. AU58 means very slight wear, and that report is a separate comparison from the published MS63 coin.
The worn Good 4 twenty-percent example needs a comparison with similar wear, rather than an unworn coin with a smaller shift.
How to Identify
Weigh a loose coin on a scale against 3.11 g before judging an apparently bare area. Grinding off finished detail can lower the weight, while an intact unstruck crescent remains part of the original blank.
Use calipers to record its outline against 19.05 mm and inspect the plain edge at 10× for filing grooves. Keep the date and the cut-off design in the same photograph.
For the published ten-percent example, match the shift toward eight o’clock. Examine other examples in their own orientation, checking that a true blank area accompanies missing design rather than simply an uneven but fully struck border.
6. 1890 Indian Head Penny Misplaced Digit Fragments
A tiny digit can appear outside the normal row of 1890 numerals. One recorded pattern has a misplaced 0 in the border teeth below the 9.
Another places the bottom of an 8 between the base of the portrait and its ribbon. These traces came from a date punch placed incorrectly during tool preparation.
They are separate locations and require different photographs. A third reported pattern shows only a digit top within the border below the 9.
An unexplained projection near the neck does not automatically become another date digit; its shape needs to support that reading.
Estimated Value
Estimate $20–$1,500 for identified 1890 misplaced-digit varieties across worn and better-preserved examples. The range depends on the particular pattern as well as the coin’s remaining color and detail.
No single sale is used to price all of the different locations described here. A clear numeral fragment provides a stronger comparison than a vague projection that could have another cause.
On a coin also carrying a crack, assess the combined condition and features without adding separate maximum prices.
How to Identify
Choose the suspected location before opening a comparison photograph. A 0 below the 9 and an 8 near the portrait base are not interchangeable patterns.
Use a 10× magnifier to trace the curve or lower part of the suspected digit. Include the nearest normal design so that its distance and angle stay visible.
For a loose bronze cent, check about 3.11 g on a scale and 19.05 mm with calipers. A normal size and weight cannot turn an irregular lump into a date fragment.
Inspect the neck-area projection especially carefully. Unless its contour matches a numeral in the recorded position, keep it separate from the definite displaced digits.
7. 1890 Indian Head Penny Repunched Date
Some earlier date strokes sit far below the main 1 and within or below the main 0. This particular pattern accompanies the strong multiple-image front variety.
The date punch entered the stamping tool more than once, leaving a shifted impression. Coins copied those remnants along with the final date.
Other 1890 patterns repeat parts of the 89 lower down or leave traces above the 1 and around the 9. Their different positions should be compared individually.
A worn or thick numeral is not enough by itself; the earlier stroke should form a recognizable part of the digit.
Estimated Value
For ordinary repunched-date examples, estimate $15–$2,000 according to the pattern, color, and condition. The full coin matters more than the mere presence of one extra stroke.
The far-lower 1 and 0 pattern accompanies a strong multiple-image front, so that combination may fall into its own higher comparison. These amounts are estimates, not separate prices to add to the doubled-design range.
A proposed repunch with no clear numeral shape should not be assigned the value of a firmly matched variety.
How to Identify
For the far-lower pattern, look below the 1 and inside and below the 0 at 10×. Keep the normal numerals in view to show how far the earlier strokes lie from them.
Then inspect the surrounding front lettering for the associated multiple-image design. Both features need to agree when identifying that combination.
Use a scale and calipers on a loose penny against 3.11 g and 19.05 mm.
For another date pattern, compare its own direction and position rather than turning the coin until a photograph seems to fit. Follow a suspected trace through its curve or straight section; a flat shelf created during striking is not another punched numeral.
8. 1890 Indian Head Penny Indented Broadstrike on a Light Blank
A large depression occupies part of the front on the recorded 1890 indented broadstrike. The coin weighs 2.6 grams instead of the usual 3.11 grams.
Heritage described two blanks entering the press together, with one overlapping much of the upper front. The overlap also kept the retaining ring, called the collar, from holding the coin normally.
The result combined an indent with spreading at the edge. PCGS graded the piece AU50, meaning light circulation wear.
The lower weight is a recorded fact, but it does not prove that the blank was intended for another denomination.
Estimated Value
This PCGS AU50 indented broadstrike sold for $517.50 at Heritage in September 2006. Its forty-percent indent and 2.6-gram weight belong to that specific coin.
An estimated $300–$2,500 covers suitable 1890 examples with a clear indent and spread outline. Compare the whole combination rather than pricing a light blank, a broadstrike, and an indent as three purchases.
The range does not include an extra wrong-metal premium, because another denomination’s blank has not been established.
How to Identify
A scale provides a central check for this example: its recorded weight is 2.6 g, compared with the ordinary 3.11 g. Keep a certified coin sealed and use the grading record instead of opening its holder.
On an accessible loose candidate, calipers can record the expanded outline relative to 19.05 mm.
Examine the upper front through a 10× magnifier and follow the boundary of the indent into the remaining design. Compare the spreading edge with that depression rather than judging them separately.
Check for cuts or missing metal that could explain a low weight afterward. A light reading alone cannot identify either the blank’s alloy or its intended denomination.
9. 1890 Indian Head Penny Doubled or Multiple Front Images
The letters of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA can show several repeated steps toward the center. The strong Snow-1 variety is often called a quadrupled front, while PCGS uses a tripled-front name for FS-101.
The visible pattern matters more than the different counting terms. It was already present in the stamping tool and appeared when that tool struck a blank.
This same front also has separate date-punch remnants below the 1 and 0. Other weaker doubled-front patterns have their own details.
A penny did not need three or four complete press blows to acquire this lettering.
Estimated Value
Estimate $30–$3,000 for matched 1890 doubled or multiple-image fronts across different varieties and grades. Strong, readable steps and better-preserved surfaces support the higher comparisons.
The specialist catalog recounts an MS65 Red example selling for about $3,000 and MS64 Red pieces near $1,000. These are reported transactions without a stated date for each resale.
They concern unworn red coins, not every thick-looking letter or worn example with an extra stroke in the date.
How to Identify
Use a 10× magnifier to compare several letters in UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, looking for repeated edges toward the center. One bright line on one letter is not enough to establish the full pattern.
A scale and calipers check a loose coin against 3.11 g and 19.05 mm. Normal measurements leave the letter shapes, rather than the size, as the deciding evidence.
For Snow-1, photograph the date remnants below the 1 and 0 as an additional feature. Match them separately from the repeated lettering.
Observe how the extra edges continue from one letter to the next. A low flat shelf from movement during striking usually lacks the same full repeated pattern.
10. 1890 Indian Head Penny Double Strike and Flipover Double Strike
One published 1890 penny received a centered first strike and an eighty-five-percent second strike toward eleven o’clock. Mint Error News identifies it as NGC MS62 Brown, an unworn coin with noticeable marks.
A separate NGC AU55 Brown auction listing records a sixty-percent second strike. That grade indicates light circulation wear.
The flipover example did something different: it turned over between blows. Its second strike is fifteen percent off-center toward seven o’clock, and NGC graded it XF40 Brown.
On that moderately worn coin, parts of opposite-face designs can share the same surface.
Estimated Value
Use an estimated $250–$3,500 for confirmed 1890 double strikes, including stronger flipover examples. Clarity, displacement, and condition determine the useful comparison.
A year guide reports $900 in 2017 and $660 in 2018 for AU53 examples with an eighty-five-percent second strike. Those lightly worn coins are separate reports, not prices assigned to the collection’s MS62 example.
The sixty-percent listing provides a certified example for comparison, but its publicly visible description does not include the final sale price.
How to Identify
For the flipover example, compare the old design on one face with the normal design of the opposite face. Through a 10× magnifier, trace where the later impression crosses those earlier details.
An ordinary double strike keeps the same face toward its tool.
For the eighty-five-percent example, include the small second impression near eleven o’clock in the full photograph. The sixty-percent listing needs its own comparison rather than that same direction.
Weigh a loose example on a scale against 3.11 g and record the outline with calipers against 19.05 mm. Extra blows may distort its shape.
The overlapping details on both sides should fit one sequence of movement or turning over.
Conclusion
An 1890 penny can carry a small tool mark or a much larger striking mistake. The estimates here span $5–$3,500, and several known examples combine more than one feature.
Check where the mark sits, whether it rises or sinks, and how the rest of the design behaves. Keep a light blank distinct from a proven wrong-metal coin, and compare a reported seller example only after checking its visible features.