Major Error Discovered on Kanaka‘ole Quarter
United States Mint image of the 2023-D Edith Kanaka‘ole American Women quarter.
A Major Clashed Die variety like none I have seen in recent years has been discovered on a 2023-P Edith Kanaka‘ole American Women Program quarter.
It was first reported to me by Sonya Holt Esquibel of Alabama, who obtained one from Chad Savage on TikTok after another one of her friends, Maria Trammel, found two out of two rolls she purchased from Chad and advised him of her find. Savage reports finding 11 so far, having not checked all the rolls at the time of this writing.
In my opinion, the coin has more going for it than even many of the stronger clashes. First and foremost, the coin has pizzaz, or what I call “sizzle in the steak,” or what Bill Fivaz likes to call “character.” Not only is it very strong, but it stands out like a sore thumb right in the center of George Washington’s profile from a reverse design that will have a short run never to be seen again.
The bold, block style lettering of “EDITH” almost looks like the clash spells “EDITH.” Only the “T” appears out of place with its top horizontal bar at the lower end of the clash when the design is viewed heads-up. The rest of the letters of “EDITH” using this font of lettering looks the same inverted or not. It is reminiscent of the famous 1888-O VAM 1A Clashed E Morgan dollar where the “E” looks like an “E” on both obverse and reverse due to the same cause.
The appearance of the clash seemingly reading from left to right behind Washington’s ear, is due to the obverse and reverse being struck in “coin alignment;” the reverse points down when the obverse is up. The extreme strength of the clashing of “EDETH” is due to Kanaka‘ole’s name being raised on the die and incuse on the coin. This is just the opposite of most coin designs where the elements are incuse in the die. This is the same reason the clashed “E” on the 1888-O VAM 1A dollar is so strong having been created from the incuse word “LIBERTY” on Miss Liberty’s headband, which was raised on the die.
There are many other areas of clash on both the obverse and reverse as pointed out by the arrows. Also included is an overlay of United States Mint images of the obverse and reverse orientated in the manner described.
Unfortunately, it just missed being considered for the Cherrypickers’ Guide [CPG]to Rare Die Varieties by Bill Fivaz and J.T. Stanton, edited by Larry Briggs. The CPG 6th Edition Volume II is officially being released Aug. 5 at the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money and is already at the printer. According to Fivaz, a seventh edition of this volume is years away, and they are not currently assigning numbers for coins that far out from publication. If it eventually gets in the book, it should increase in value more unless Professional Coin Grading Service and Numismatic Guarantee Company recognize it first, at which point it will undoubtedly find its own value without the aid of CPG.
While I am no soothsayer, I have a sneaking suspicion that this variety will elicit strong interest from collectors. As for what its value might be, it is too early to tell and only supply and demand and auction prices will dictate value.
It is being included in the next edition of Strike It Rich With Pocket Change with a Variety Coin Register listing number of VCR#1/CDOR#1.
A clashed die occurs when the planchet delivery system fails to deposit a planchet within the dies and the press cycles, causing the dies to smash or clash into each other. When this occurs, the design of one or both dies may impart outlines and sometimes some raised areas on each other. Coins struck with these dies will show these aberrations until they are removed by the Mint via abrasives or wear away.
Edith Kanaka‘ole was an indigenous Hawaiian composer, chanter, kumu hula and a custodian of native culture, traditions and the natural land. Her stories served to rescue aspects of Hawaiian history, customs and traditions that were disappearing due to the cultural bigotry of the time.
The reverse of this coin features a depiction of Edith Kanaka’ole, with her hair and lei po‘o (head lei) morphing into the elements of a Hawaiian landscape, symbolizing Kanaka’ole’s life’s work of preserving the natural land and traditional Hawaiian culture. The inscription “E hō mai ka ‘ike” translates as “granting the wisdom” and is a reference to the intertwined role hula and chants play in this preservation. The coin was officially released on March 27, 2023.
The Edith Kanaka’ole quarters are still available from the United States Mint website by the 100-count bags and roll sets at www.usmint.gov.
All images courtesy Sonya Holt Esquibel.
