Rare 1898 Penny Errors (List & Pictures)
The lower border of an 1898 cent can hide numeral fragments small enough to overlook beside the normal date. A sharply preserved misplaced-date variety sold for $1,998 at Heritage in January 2015.
Estimated values for 1898 penny errors span $5–$3,000, from slight die-related features to conspicuous double strikes. Follow the date, lettering, surface, outline, and face alignment below to distinguish features that may occur together on one coin.
| Look here | Feature to check | Estimated value |
|---|---|---|
| Date and lower border | Repunched or misplaced digits | $20–$2,500 |
| Letters and wreath | Doubling, clash, cracks, or die rust | $5–$1,200 |
| Weak front design | Strike through a die cap | $500–$1,500 |
| Outline and overlapping images | Clip, off-center strike, or double strike | $50–$3,000 |
| Orientation after flipping | Slight die rotation | $5–$50 |
1. 1898 Penny A Numeral Fragment Among Border Teeth: Misplaced Date Error
Keep the normal 9 in view while examining the border immediately beneath it. A recorded 1898 pattern has the top of an extra 8 or 9 in that area, left when the date punch entered the die too low.
How to Identify
Trace the small raised curve through the border teeth and compare its position with a documented variety photograph. A chip or irregular tooth can look like a fragment without preserving a recognizable numeral shape.
Snow-5, also known as FS-402, is one cataloged misplaced date for 1898. Other misplaced-date patterns require their own match rather than inheriting that attribution from any bump below the date.
What It’s Worth
$40–$2,500 is the estimated range across identified 1898 misplaced dates and conditions. Original surfaces and clear fragments matter alongside the variety name.
PCGS records a $1,998 Heritage result in January 2015 for an MS66 Red FS-402. That exceptionally preserved unworn red coin is a different comparison from a heavily circulated example.
2. 1898 Penny Earlier Strokes Beside 898: Repunched Date Error
Extra strokes to the right of 898 occur on one recorded repunched-date pattern. The date punch moved between impressions in the die, leaving remnants that were copied onto subsequently struck coins.
How to Identify
Photograph all four digits and follow the suspected extra strokes into recognizable parts of the numerals. A dark edge or flat shelf does not by itself establish a previous date-punch position.
Other 1898 varieties have different directions and shapes of repunching. The RPD-019 front is paired with the DDR-001 reverse, so that particular identification can be checked against both faces.
What It’s Worth
$20–$2,000 is the estimated whole-coin range for identified repunched dates. Preservation and remaining copper color contribute to the higher comparisons.
A year guide reports $1,725 for a high-grade example without sufficient auction detail to apply it to a specific variety here. Where a repunched date shares a coin with reverse doubling, evaluate the combination rather than adding two full estimates.
3. 1898 Penny Repeated Wreath or Letter Details: Doubled Die Error
The left and lower-left wreath provide the useful diagnostics for DDR-001. Its leaves and veins show repeated detail toward the center, copied from a doubled image in the reverse die.
How to Identify
Follow the inward repeated edges through several leaves rather than relying only on the E of ONE. The accompanying RPD-019 date must also match its own reference.
Variety 44 has a separate front-doubling pattern, strongest on UNITED and weaker on OF AMERICA. Compare consistent raised outlines across those letters, distinguishing them from a low shelf caused by movement during striking.
What It’s Worth
$20–$1,200 is the estimated range for identified 1898 doubled-design examples. The strength of the pattern and the coin’s complete condition determine which comparisons are useful.
No completed price is supplied for each listed die pairing. Variety 44 also carries other identifying marks, which belong to the same coin rather than separate purchases.
4. 1898 Penny An Unfamiliar Outline Crosses CENT: Die Clash Error
Variety 44 has an extra trace crossing the C of CENT. A clash occurs when the dies contact each other without a blank between them and transfer parts of the opposing design.
How to Identify
Include the entire word CENT when comparing the trace with the Variety 44 photographs. The shape should fit transferred design rather than a new letter or an arbitrary line.
Separate that trace from the cracks following parts of the wreath. Later scratches can cross either feature, so check whether a suspected mark is original raised detail or a cut in the surface.
What It’s Worth
$10–$300 is the estimated range for clearly matched 1898 clashes across worn and better-preserved examples. A recognizable transferred shape is more useful than an unexplained faint line.
No individual auction result is assigned to the Variety 44 clash. Its doubling, cracks, and slight rotation are additional evidence for the same penny, not separate values to total.
5. 1898 Penny Raised Lines Follow the Wreath: Cracks and Retained Breaks Error
Metal entering a crack in the die leaves a raised line on the coin. A cracked section that stays in place can instead produce a bounded retained break with portions of the design still visible.
How to Identify
On Variety 44, the right-wreath crack runs roughly from 2 to 3:45, and the left path runs from 10:45 toward 9 o’clock. Its front rim break is around 4–4:30; other 1898 pairings have separate reverse retained or partial breaks.
Distinguish the raised ridge from a scratched groove, then inspect any broader section for surviving design within its outline. A crushed rim, solder, or added metal requires a different explanation.
What It’s Worth
$5–$100 is the estimate for modest cracks, while clearer retained breaks or substantial rim cuds may fall around $50–$1,000. Visibility, size, and preservation all matter.
These ranges are not completed sales for every die stage. An early fine crack should not receive the comparison used for a much larger later break.
6. 1898 Penny Small Raised Patches Texture the Reverse: Die Rust Error
Rust pits in a die can produce tiny raised points on a coin, because the struck metal fills those cavities. The arrangement of that roughness is useful evidence for the 1898 RST-001 variety.
How to Identify
Inspect inside the wreath near 8:30, around ON in ONE, and below the shield. Compare the group of raised patches with the documented pattern rather than judging a single rough area.
Post-mint corrosion can leave pits, crust, or irregular damage across unrelated locations. Do not scrape deposits away; use changing light to see whether the original feature rises above the surrounding surface.
What It’s Worth
$15–$300 is the estimated range for recognizable 1898 rusted-die examples. Clear surviving texture makes a stronger case for collector interest than random roughness.
No published RST-001 auction result is assigned here. Corrosion or cleaning that hides the diagnostic patches reduces the usefulness of a high-condition comparison.
7. 1898 Penny The Front Design Looks Distorted or Obscured: Struck Through a Die Cap Error
A coin stuck to the front die can act as a cap between that die and the next blank. The next cent receives a disturbed impression through the intervening coin instead of direct contact with the normal die surface.
How to Identify
Compare the surviving date and transition from readable to distorted front detail with the published NGC MS66 Brown 1898 example. Its reverse can help distinguish a front-side striking obstruction from general wear.
This is the coin struck through the cap, not the cup-shaped cap itself. Scratches from later smoothing or an ordinary weak strike do not establish the same process.
What It’s Worth
$500–$1,500 is the estimated range for a confirmed 1898 front struck-through-cap error with a readable year. The published unworn MS66 Brown example supplies a condition reference.
A year guide reports $625 for an MS66 Brown coin without a dated primary auction lot. Treat that amount as a reported comparison rather than a newly verified completed sale.
8. 1898 Penny Curved or Straight Sections Are Missing: Clipped Planchet Error
The reported 1898 clip group includes curved, straight, and multiple missing sections. A curved clip can begin where the blank-cutting punch overlaps an existing hole, while a straight boundary can come from the metal strip’s end.
How to Identify
Inspect the complete outline before checking each gap’s edge and adjacent rim. Natural weakness at or opposite a clip can support the identification, while filing marks or folded-in metal point toward later alteration.
For loose coins, the ordinary bronze-cent references are 3.11 g and 19.05 mm, with an intact span used for diameter and wear allowed for. These measurements also assist with the strike errors below; certified coins should stay in their holders.
What It’s Worth
$50–$300 is the estimate for modest clips, rising to roughly $250–$1,000 for larger or multiple clips with clear original surfaces. Each coin’s actual missing metal and condition require comparison.
The year report does not establish a certified specimen and completed sale for every listed shape. A later cut through a finished penny does not qualify for the same mint-error estimate.
9. 1898 Penny A Bare Crescent Borders an Incomplete Image: Off-Center Strike Error
A single off-center strike leaves part of the blank unused while normal design runs beyond the opposite edge. The recorded 1898 example is about 18% off-center and graded CACG Fine 12.
How to Identify
Keep the whole coin and readable date in the photograph when evaluating the displacement. The percentage describes the strike position, not an amount of missing metal.
Follow both faces’ design boundaries and inspect the unused crescent for grinding or filing. A complete design with an uneven border is different, as is the separate double strike described next.
What It’s Worth
$100–$600 is the estimate for modest shifts, with larger readable-date examples in suitable condition estimated at $400–$1,500. Damage or a poorly preserved date can limit comparisons.
A Greysheet auction listing reports $305 for the 18% off-center CACG Fine 12 coin at Heritage in June 2026. That is a reported sale of a substantially circulated example, not the price of an unworn or larger error.
10. 1898 Penny Two Dates Accompany Overlapping Designs: Double Strike Error
The published NGC MS64 Brown 1898 double strike shows two dates. Its centered first impression was followed by a second strike about 20% off-center toward 12 o’clock.
How to Identify
Use the dates to locate each strike, then follow the corresponding portrait and lettering where they overlap. The Mint Error News illustration provides the particular arrangement to compare.
Repeated struck designs should extend beyond one thick numeral. Sunken, reversed details from pressing two finished coins together are different evidence and do not establish another mint strike.
What It’s Worth
$200–$3,000 is the estimated range for confirmed 1898 double strikes. Preservation and the clarity of both impressions influence where a specimen fits.
A year guide reports $1,400 for a double-struck example but provides no dated lot tying that amount to the illustrated MS64 Brown coin. Keep the reported figure separate from the published specimen’s documented physical details.
11. 1898 Penny The Reverse Has a Slight Tilt: Rotated Dies Error
Variety 44’s reverse is reported about seven degrees clockwise from its expected orientation. This changes how the faces align with one another without moving either design off its own center.
How to Identify
Hold the front upright and flip the coin from top to bottom without twisting sideways. Repeat with a fixed guide line to see whether the same small tilt returns.
A normal U.S. cent shows an upright reverse after that flip. Loose photographs can introduce a false angle, and claiming Variety 44 also requires matching its other documented marks.
What It’s Worth
$5–$50 is the estimated whole-coin range for a circulated example with a slight seven-degree rotation. Much of that may reflect the ordinary cent and any properly matched accompanying variety.
No separate auction result is provided for this small tilt. It should not receive the comparison used for a dramatic rotation or be added as a full extra value to the same coin’s clash and doubling.
Conclusion
For 1898, several small marks can identify one die pairing rather than several independent errors. Preserve that relationship when checking Variety 44 or the repunched date paired with DDR-001.
Also distinguish a reported guide price from a documented auction record and a photographed specimen without a linked sale. The $5–$3,000 range becomes useful only after the actual feature, coin condition, and strength of the supporting evidence are clear.
