Only the second-known Canadian 1954 five-cent No Shoulder Fold coin has apparently been found.
Jerry Crain, of Janesville, Wis., reported his find to Numismatic News and it has been slabbed PL-55 (Prooflike-55) by Numismatic Guaranty Corp.
The regular Canadian 1954 five-cent coins have a distinct shoulder fold on the profile of Queen Elizabeth. Also, there are differences in lettering, especially noticeable on the letter ?I? in the legend ?ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA.? The lettering on the No Shoulder Fold (NSF) variety have pronounced flared tips.
George Manz, president of George Manz Coins in Regina, Saskatchewan, wrote about the first-known coin last year for World Coin News. He said that the coin?s owner, Jerry Wilde, of Regina, had the coin for about 50 years before it was certified as the only known coin of its type.
Manz said Wilde has not auctioned the coin and a value for it has not been determined. It has been graded VF-20 by International Coin Certification Service.
Several Canadian experts have surmised the coin is a mule, which are obverse and reverse dies that were not supposed to be used together.
Brian Cornwell of ICCS, located in Canada, believes that when Royal Canadian Mint employees were producing the 1954 five cents, they may have run out of 1954 Shoulder Fold obverse dies and used a spare 1953 NSF obverse die to produce the coin. The 1953 coins also show the flared lettering tips and no shoulder fold.
