Online Appraisal
D. I have what I believe to be a very unique coin (if it can be called a coin, legally). My grandmother passed away and she was holding onto my late grandfather's coin collection. I inherited many coins, but the one that has me dumbfounded came along with 3 similar coins. Those 3 coins are 2008 Chile error coins and, as you might expect, are the 2008 error coins with the "CHIIE" misspelling. Those coins were not protected and were stored together in a ring box with one other peculiar coin. The coin I'm inquiring about is also a 2008 Chile 50 Pesos but, unlike the others, it does not contain the misspelling. Without the misspelling, I would assume there is nothing really special about it or that it's of any particular value, but this coin, in the box with the others, is protected in a plastic coin case. It's in (strangely) brilliant condition and clearly uncirculated. I didn't see anything special about it at first; it has no apparent mispellings, no apparent flaws, I wasn't sure why it would be worth saving. After reading the history of these coins I about had a heart attack, considering there's a story about the Chilean Mint Manager that says he let a very rare item be sold to a private coin collector in conjunction with the spelling mistake, which happened after fixing an issue with the first batch of coins containing an unknown error (that batch was sent to be destroyed at the Central Bank). Here's the crazy part: Upon closer inpection, this coin has a die strike error on the obverse. Right on the face of B. O'Higgins. The error is a small, raised, bit of coin material and, perfectly to scale in its form and shape, appears to be a teardrop rolling down his cheek below his right eye. I believe this is the die error that the Mint workers were frantically trying to fix in a hurry which led to the spelling mistake being made and is the only existing specimen, taken by a mint worker without authorization, that wasn't sent to the Central Bank for destruction. I'd like to know what the value of this coin might be, if it is possibly the historically significant coin I suspect it is, and what to do with it from here.
Asked on Oct 30, 2024
I wish you'd read our submission criteria and FAQs/tutorials before writing all that, as we don't handle such things. Primarily because they rarely have value. Sorry!
SUBMIT AN ITEM FOR FREE APPRAISAL
We kindly ask you to limit your request to ONE item, preferably with images of both sides. We specialize in items that are older and of some historic importance. Please include photos of both sides if possible.
We may use your appraisal on our site as reference for others with the same item(s). We'll never display your personal information and will remove all sensitive information from your submission. Please contact us for a private appraisal. View our privacy policy.
Most inquiries we get are about circulated coins made after 1971, and/or coins where people mistake post-mint damage and wear for "errors". You can expect us to affirm these are face value. We ask that before you write and submit such questions, to PLEASE first read through our existing postings and our "what it's worth" primers.
Photo Criteria: Acceptable photo formats are gif, jpg, and png and no larger than 15 MB. If you are using an iPhone, make sure that the photo is not set to LIVE, as this format will be not be uploaded.