Mule (coin)
In numismatics, a mule is a coin or medal minted with obverse and reverse designs not normally seen on the same piece. These can be intentional or produced by error. This type of error is highly sought after, and examples can fetch steep prices from collectors.
The earliest mules are found among ancient Greek and Roman coins. Opinion is divided between those who think that they are accidental, the result of an incorrect combination of a new die with one that had officially been withdrawn from use, or the work of coiners working with dies stolen from an official mint, perhaps at a time when one of them should have been destroyed.
The name derives from the mule, the hybrid offspring of a horse and a donkey, due to such a coin having two sides intended for different coins, much as a mule has parents of two different species.
Sacagawea Dollar with Washington State Quarter
Several prominent mule errors have been discovered in recent times. One of the most famous is the Sacagawea Dollar/Washington State Quarter mule featuring the obverse of a Statehood quarter and the reverse of a Sacagawea dollar. This coin was struck on a Sacagawea dollar planchet. Common belief was that this coin was intentionally struck by a mint employee, however the mint confirmed in July 2000 that the coin was a legitimate error, created by the accidental replacement of a cracked Sacagawea obverse die with a Washington obverse die. Several thousand of the coins were reported to have been minted before the error was discovered, and mint employees recovered and destroyed most of them. As of April 2013, 14 are publicly known to exist and have been certified. The highest sale price for one of the coins was paid for mule #12, known as the "Stacks Bowers ANA" specimen (NGC MS-67), sold at the American Numismatic Association meeting in Philadelphia in August 2012 for $155,250.
Fayetteville Observer
05 Sep 2019
Fayetteville Observer
05 Sep 2019
