Rare 1976 Nickel Errors (List & Pictures)
A nickel design on a dollar-sized disk is the most unusual piece in this 1976 nickel errors guide. A specialist report records a $13,200 Heritage result for that object.
The wider list ranges from about $20–$20,000, including affordable clips and expanded strikes. Use the outline first, then the surface and surviving designs, to decide which checks fit your coin.
1. 1976 Nickel An Expanded Outline from a Broadstrike Error
A broadstrike spreads wider when the collar, the ring around the blank, fails to contain it. The complete design can remain within an uneven, expanded border.
How to Identify
Compare the whole outline with a normal nickel, about 21.21 mm across and 5 grams. Check that outer design remains present rather than running off the edge.
Look for intact struck surfaces around the spread. Hammering a finished coin can widen it too, but often crushes high points or leaves battered lettering.
What It’s Worth
$20–$150 is the estimate for a genuine ordinary 1976 broadstrike. A clear wide border and clean surfaces usually create more interest than a slight spread.
A 1999-P example sold for $89 in March 2025. It supplies a different-year comparison, rather than a direct 1976 sale.
2. 1976 Nickel An Empty Gap from a Clipped Blank Error
Metal is absent from a clipped blank before it enters the press. Recorded 1976 examples include a no-mintmark 40% curved clip and separate Denver clips combined with broadstrikes.
How to Identify
Examine both ends of the gap for struck metal flow, and look for possible rim weakness opposite it. File strokes or saw marks cutting through finished detail suggest later removal.
For a clipped broadstrike, also check the expanded remaining border. The clip and spreading belong to one coin, although they began at different stages.
What It’s Worth
$30–$400 covers ordinary clips at about $30–$150 and dramatic clipped broadstrikes at $90–$400. The no-mintmark 40% clip sold for $67 in January 2017.
A Denver 25% clipped broadstrike brought $152.75 in August 2015, while a separate 55% example sold for $144 in January 2018. The largest gap did not produce the highest result.
3. 1976 Nickel Blank Metal beside an Off-Center Strike Error
Some 1976 nickels received only part of the design because their blanks missed the center of the dies. The unstruck crescent still contains metal, unlike a clip.
A no-mintmark example is 45% off center toward twelve o’clock. A different Denver coin is 65% off center toward eleven o’clock.
How to Identify
Inspect both faces for matching displacement and missing outer design. A normal back behind a shifted front can indicate a different problem.
Read the surviving date and mintmark before describing the direction. Check the bare crescent for scraping rather than assuming missing letters were never struck.
What It’s Worth
$30–$400 spans a range of displacement, preservation, and date visibility. The 45% example sold for $39 in January 2022, and a separate 35% coin brought $104 in February 2010.
Those results show why the percentage is only one factor. Mixed lots containing several errors do not establish another individual nickel price.
4. 1976 Nickel Two Edge Bumps from a Broken Collar Error
One 1976-D nickel has two outward bumps at five o’clock and ten-thirty. Metal entered broken areas of the collar during striking, producing what collectors call collar cuds.
The documented coin was graded MS64, an unworn grade with some visible marks. These side bumps differ from a die-break patch on the face.
How to Identify
Use a continuous side view with the date kept upright to locate both bumps. Face-only photographs can hide the feature.
Inspect each join for added metal or a seam, then check the nearby rims for crushing. A later impact can push metal outward but usually disturbs the surrounding edge differently.
What It’s Worth
$100–$400 is a practical range for a clear comparable example. Fred Weinberg offered the MS64 coin for $200 in a dealer price list.
That was an asking price for the complete coin. The two collar breaks do not create two separate full values.
5. 1976 Nickel Peeling Metal from Lamination or a Split Blank Error
A 1976 AU58 nickel has a local front lamination, where metal separates in a thin layer. Its description does not identify one exact portrait location.
A separate Denver blank split before striking and weighed 3.4 grams. That coin received its design on a thinner piece, rather than merely developing a small flap.
How to Identify
Leave an attached flap untouched and study its edge in side light. A separation within the metal differs from a scraped groove across the surface.
For a split-before-striking piece, look for design impressed across the exposed inner surface. A piece that separates afterward may instead reveal an unstruck interior.
What It’s Worth
$25–$300 includes small laminations at $25–$100 and clear split-before-striking blanks at $100–$300. The front-lamination AU58 coin sold for $55 in October 2022.
That result does not price the separate 3.4-gram Denver piece. A retained flap also should not be broken away to make the flaw look larger.
6. 1976 Nickel A Raised Rim Patch from a Broken Die Error
A broken piece at the edge of a die can leave a raised patch connected to the rim, called a cud. An ordinary no-mintmark 1976 cud is listed separately from a distinctive S Proof example.
The Proof has a thorn-like rise near five o’clock between the FS initials and S mintmark, closer to FS. It extends toward the base of Jefferson’s tied hair.
How to Identify
On the Proof, find the tiny FS designer initials and follow the rise toward the hair and rim. Here FS identifies designer Felix Schlag, not the steps on Monticello.
Check for a crushed lip or an added-metal seam. An ordinary circulation cud needs its own matching photograph, rather than the Proof’s location.
What It’s Worth
$40–$800 covers ordinary cuds around $40–$250 and attractive S Proof breaks around $250–$800. A 1976-S PR68 Deep Cameo example brought $504 in May 2022.
That grade describes a very well-preserved Proof with strong contrast between frosted detail and shiny background. Its result does not set the price for a worn circulation coin.
7. 1976 Nickel Extra Letter Edges from Doubled Dies Error
Reports describe front doubling around the motto, LIBERTY, and date, plus back doubling around lettering and Monticello’s columns. A doubled die has repeated detail on the stamping tool itself.
The supplied accounts do not establish one named variety, mint, or collector finish for every report. Each proposed match needs its own pattern.
How to Identify
Change the lighting and inspect several nearby letters for persistent rounded outlines or split corners. A reflection moves with the light, while a real metal ridge stays in place.
A flat ledge may come from movement during striking. Compare the building with an ordinary coin so its normal repeated columns do not become supposed extra detail.
What It’s Worth
$25–$300 is a conditional estimate for confirmed doubling matching the reported areas. Small clear examples belong lower in the range than strong separation on attractive coins.
No matched sale of a named variety is supplied for these reports. Flat strike-related shelves should not receive the same premium.
8. 1976 Nickel Two Design Positions from a Double Strike Error
A no-mintmark example has two dates, with its second strike 75% off center. Denver examples include separate double strikes, one with a later wheel mark on the back.
The extra blow can flatten parts of the earlier design while leaving others visible. That creates a broader overlap than a thin doubled edge on a letter.
How to Identify
Trace each impression in a photograph of both faces. Look for an earlier letter or portrait feature continuing into an area flattened by the later strike.
A sunken reversed copy suggests a different contact process. Keep later wheel marks or edge impacts separate from the Mint-made overlap.
What It’s Worth
$150–$800 is the estimated range for genuine 1976 double strikes. A Denver MS60 coin brought $288 in August 2021.
Another Denver example with an off-center second strike and back damage sold for $180 in September 2023. Cleaner surfaces and two bold readable dates can support a stronger comparison.
9. 1976 Nickel A Backward Proof Impression with Clash Marks Error
A reported 1976-S Proof has brockage over about 10% of the back, along with die-clash marks on both faces. Brockage is a sunken mirror image pressed in by another struck coin.
Clash marks come from dies touching without a blank between them and transferring faint design traces to later coins. The account names a PR67 Deep Cameo example but gives no exact brockage location.
How to Identify
Separate the recessed backward design from the much shallower clash traces. Several recognizable design shapes are better evidence than scratches or cloudy areas.
Confirm the S and original Proof finish, then study the boundaries for later pressure damage. The reported grade does not replace matching the actual features.
What It’s Worth
$500–$3,000 is the conditional whole-coin estimate for an authenticated Proof showing both effects. No confirmed sale price is supplied for the reported specimen.
An undated ordinary nickel with 30% brockage and an off-center strike brought $336 in June 2024. It is a different comparison, while Proof finish and readable combined features can support more.
10. 1976 Nickel A Light Coin on an Underweight Copper-Nickel Blank Error
A brown-toned MS62 nickel weighs 3.7 grams but has the normal alloy of 75% copper and 25% nickel. Its unusual weight does not turn that metal into a cent blank.
How to Identify
Record weight, width, and thickness without cleaning the coin. The source gives 3.7 grams but does not supply this specimen’s exact diameter.
Check for corrosion, filing, or a split that could explain later metal loss. Original struck surfaces and a material test provide more evidence than brown color alone.
What It’s Worth
$150–$600 is the estimate for a genuine underweight example of this type. The recorded MS62 Brown piece brought $408 in October 2022 and $192 in June 2023.
These are separate auction appearances, not amounts to add together. Neither the low weight nor the color identifies a foreign denomination without further evidence.
11. 1976 Nickel A Small Silvery Coin on a Dime Blank Error
A dime blank is too small to hold the full nickel design. A copper core may be visible at the edge, unlike the uniform alloy of a normal nickel.
Recorded examples include a 2.31-gram piece and a separate 2.23-gram coin with an incomplete visible date. The grading service attributed the latter to 1976.
How to Identify
Compare a loose piece with a dime blank’s normal 2.268 grams and 17.91 mm diameter, allowing for spreading during the nickel strike. Check the truncated design and layered edge together.
An unused dime blank should not show an older Roosevelt design. It also need not have dime edge grooves, which form during striking.
What It’s Worth
$300–$1,000 covers typical authenticated examples. A PCGS MS64 coin sold for $492 in December 2024, and an ANACS MS63 brought $504 in September 2025.
The separate 2.23-gram example sold for $517 in January 2017. Its partly missing date remains important when comparing it with a fully dated piece.
12. 1976 Nickel Copper Color from a Cent Blank Error
Ordinary Philadelphia and Denver examples received nickel designs on copper cent blanks. A separate 1976-S Proof used the same general kind of smaller blank.
Recorded Denver weights of 3.09 and 3.1 grams fit the period’s cent metal. No earlier Lincoln design is required because the blank had not yet become a finished cent.
How to Identify
Combine the copper-colored metal with a smaller outline and naturally cut-off nickel lettering. Period cent standards are about 3.11 grams and 19.05 mm before any spreading.
Inspect for plating or filing at the edge. On a claimed Proof, the S and preserved original collector finish matter; polishing does not create Proof surfaces.
What It’s Worth
$200–$6,000 spans two distinct markets: ordinary strikes around $200–$1,000 and S Proofs around $2,500–$6,000. A Denver example sold for $408 in September 2024.
The PR68 Red Ultra Cameo Proof brought $4,800 in March 2023. Its excellent preservation and strong frosted-to-mirror contrast explain why it should not price an ordinary brown Denver coin.
13. 1976 Nickel Older Lincoln Details beneath a Nickel Overstrike Error
Recognizable cent details beneath Jefferson establish that a finished coin entered the nickel press. One example retains ES OF AM on the lower front and Memorial columns on the back.
A different flipped-face example puts the cent’s date and LIBERTY on the nickel’s back. That arrangement does not by itself prove two nickel strikes.
How to Identify
Follow the actual older lettering through the newer design, using both faces. On the first described example, Lincoln points northwest relative to Monticello.
Use cent weight and metal as supporting checks, but let surviving cent design establish the overstrike. Copper color cannot distinguish a finished cent from an unused cent blank.
What It’s Worth
$450–$2,500 is the estimate for these double-denomination pieces. The MS64 example with Memorial columns brought $492 in September 2019, while a separate MS65 sold for $1,200 in December 2024.
The flipped-face AU58 coin carried a $950 dealer asking price. These figures concern separate specimens and different kinds of price records.
14. 1976 Nickel A Philippine Blank under the Nickel Design Error
The one-sentimo type is a light aluminum square with rounded corners. A recorded example weighs 1.2 grams, close to the separate listing’s 18.5 grains.
The five-sentimo type is different and has a recorded weight of 3.37 grams. The two denominations should not share one set of measurements.
How to Identify
Start with shape and material, then record weight and dimensions. Keep the unit visible: 18.5 grains is about 1.2 grams, not 18.5 grams.
Inspect the boundaries for filing or later reshaping. A foreign-blank attribution needs the complete metal-and-design match, rather than an unusual color alone.
What It’s Worth
$600–$2,000 spans five-sentimo examples at roughly $600–$1,500 and aluminum one-sentimo pieces at $700–$2,000. The 3.37-gram MS60 five-sentimo coin sold for $862.50 in January 2011.
An NGC MS62 one-sentimo example weighing 1.2 grams brought $822.50 in January 2017. Both results belong to their respective blank types.
15. 1976 Nickel A Small Nickel Impression on a Dollar-Sized Disk Error
The unusual 22.37-gram piece carries a weak central Jefferson impression with a clear 1976 date and S. Its other face has enlarged, sunken, reversed traces of Roosevelt’s neck, date, and mintmark.
Specialists have discussed mismatched tools and a possible test striking. Those explanations interpret the object; it is not simply two normal-sized coin designs on opposite faces.
How to Identify
Compare both complete faces with the documented object, including the size and depth of the reversed Roosevelt traces. The edge is plain.
A clad Eisenhower dollar provides scale at 22.68 grams and 38.1 mm, while this piece’s recorded weight is 22.37 grams. Record actual measurements and check for seams or added parts rather than assuming dollar specifications prove the attribution.
What It’s Worth
$10,000–$20,000 is the working range for the documented dollar-sized object. Mint Error News reports a $13,200 Heritage result.
Its August 2016 Heritage appearance was unsold, so that date does not belong to the $13,200 result. A later home-pressed disk would not share this valuation.
Conclusion
For a 1976 nickel, the outline tells you where to start, while weight and surviving designs help narrow the explanation. Missing metal, unstruck metal, and a smaller original blank can look similar in a cropped photograph.
Keep Proof and ordinary-strike prices separate. When one coin combines errors, preserve the details of that complete object rather than adding several full price ranges together.
