![Heraclius mule 612173](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Heraclius_mule_612173.jpg)
In
numismatics
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects.
Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...
, a mule is a coin or medal minted with
obverse and reverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, '' ...
designs not normally seen on the same piece. These can be intentional or produced by error. This type of error is highly sought after by collectors, and examples can fetch high prices.
The earliest mules are found among ancient Greek and Roman coins. Opinion is divided between those who think that they are accidental, the result of an incorrect combination of a new die with one that had officially been withdrawn from use, or the work of coiners working with dies stolen from an official mint, perhaps at a time when one of them should have been destroyed.
The name derives from the
mule
The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...
, the hybrid offspring of a horse and a donkey, due to such a coin having two sides intended for different coins, much as a mule has parents of two different species.
Prominent examples
In March 2014 the
Royal Mint
The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins.
Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...
confirmed a pair of mule 2014 bullion coins struck in 999 fine silver: approximately 38,000 £2 Lunar Horse coins and 17,000 £2
Britannia
Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
coins. The Lunar Horses were struck with the denticled
Britannia
Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
obverse while the Britannias were struck with the non-denticled Lunar Horse obverse.
In February 2009, ''
Coin World
''Coin World'' is an American numismatic magazine, with weekly and monthly issues. It is among the world’s most popular non-academic publications for coin collectors and is covering the entire numismatic field, including coins, paper money, me ...
'' reported that some 2007
Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams ( ''née'' Smith; November 22, [ O.S. November 11] 1744 – October 28, 1818) was the wife and closest advisor of John Adams, as well as the mother of John Quincy Adams. She was a founder of the United States, an ...
medals, from the
U.S. Mint, were struck using the reverse from the 2008
Louisa Adams
Louisa Catherine Adams ( ''née'' Johnson; February 12, 1775 – May 15, 1852) was the First Lady of the United States from 1825 to 1829 during the presidency of John Quincy Adams.
Early life
Adams was born on February 12, 1775, in the City ...
medal, apparently by mistake.
These pieces were contained within the 2007 First Spouse medal set.
The U.S. Mint has not released an estimate of how many mules were made. eBay prices in March 2009 were reported as high as $925.99.
In 1967, a
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
2 cent coin was issued, featuring the obverse of the Bahamian 5 cent coin, see
Coins of the New Zealand dollar
The coins of the New Zealand dollar are used for the smallest physical currency available in New Zealand. The current denominations are ten cents, twenty cents, fifty cents, one dollar and two dollars. The $1 and $2 coins are minted in a go ...
.
In June 2009 a rare dateless
British 20 pence mule was reported to be in circulation, resulting from the accidental combination of old and new dies in production following a
2008 redesign of UK coinage, with an estimated 50,000 to 200,000 mules released before the error was noticed.
The
Winter Olympic coins produced in the
Royal Canadian Mint Olympic coins program for the
2010 Winter Olympics
)''
, nations = 82
, athletes = 2,626
, events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, opening = February 12, 2010
, closing = February 28, 2010
, opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean
, cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...
in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
featured several mules which entered circulation.
One of the first authentic mule errors to be released by the U.S. Mint (as opposed to the deliberate mules of the mid-1800s) was the
2000 Sacagawea dollar – Washington quarter mule. It features the obverse of a
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
state quarter and the reverse of a
Sacagawea dollar
The Sacagawea dollar (also known as the "golden dollar") is a United States dollar coin introduced in 2000, although not minted for general circulation between 2002 to 2008 and again from 2012 onward because of its general unpopularity with th ...
. This coin was struck on a Sacagawea dollar
planchet
A planchet is a round metal disk that is ready to be struck as a coin. An older word for planchet is flan. They are also referred to as blanks.
History
The preparation of the flan or planchet has varied over the years. In ancient times, the f ...
. The mint confirmed in July 2000 that the coin was a legitimate error, created by the accidental replacement of a cracked Sacagawea obverse die with a Washington obverse die. Several thousand of the coins were reported to have been minted before the error was discovered, and mint employees recovered and destroyed most of them. As of May 2019, 18 are publicly known to exist and have been certified, of which 14 are owned by a coin collector named Tommy Bolack.
A specimen was sold in August 2012 for $155,250.
[
]
"Handsome" mules
Sometimes mints use proof dies in the production of coins intended for circulation. Coins produced when an identifiable proof die is "married" with a business die are known as "handsome" mules. The details on handsome mules are often noticeably sharper, and thus are distinguishable from ordinary business strikes in circulation.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mule (Coin)
Coins
Mint-made errors