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August 28, 2009
The "Upset" coin error.
Australian 2001 Centenary of Federation Dollar - 9 o'clock upset
An upset coin is produced during minting when the dies for the reverse and obverse of the coin are not aligned correctly.
For Australian coins if you hold the reverse of the coin upright with a thumb and forefinger on the top and bottom edge you should be able to rotate the coin around to view the obverse which will be upright also. Australian coins are minted with what is known as 'medal alignment'. Coins from other countries (such as the USA for example) mint their coins with what is known as 'coin alignment'. When
if you hold the reverse of a 'coin alignment coin' upright with a thumb and forefinger on the top and bottom edge you can rotate the coin around to view the obverse which will be upside down (in contrast to Australian coins).
A regular coin should have the Queen (or King) look at you straight on. During minting one of the dies might not be aligned correctly or might rotate during the production run. When turning the coin around, if a coin is an upset it will show the obverse (Queen's side) facing anything but upright. She may be leaning over to the right 90 degrees (a 90 deg upset) or upside down (180 degree upset). You may find these upset errors in any number of degrees of the clockface.
If one side of the coin is only rotated a small amount, up to say 15 deg (or 1 o'clock) it won't be considered an upset. This angle may be considered normal as there is a small allowance for slight angle movement in the struck coin. Pre-decimal coins may often have a slight degree of upset which is considered normal which is not so common in decimal coins.
During one production run of 2001 Centenary of Federation Dollars at the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra this error occured. Collectors have found varying degrees of upset coins ranging the entire clockface from 1 degree to 359 degrees. In this case during only one production run the obverse die rotated throughout the run causing the varying degrees of upset.
An upset coin will demand a premium over it's regular counterpart. The degree of upset will also determine how collectable it is. A Federation $1 upset pulled from circulation with a 90 degree angle may fetch $20 or more depending on it's condition so it's worth looking out for this error in your change. It is also a coin that is not impossible to find! These Federation upsets are the most common upset coins to find. Any other upset of another denomination or a pre-decimal upset with a high rotation will certainly command a higher premium as they are much less common..
Posted by harrisk at August 28, 2009 11:20 AM
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