Proof 1970-S Kennedy Half Dollar
Struck on Aluminum Shell Gas Token
Double Struck
Missouri State - 1.7g
PCGS PR 62
1 of 3 Known (on Shell Gas Tokens)
SOLD

This is an amazing and spectacular proof major mint error. It is a 1970 Kennedy Half Dollar from the San Francisco Mint that is double struck on an aluminum Shell Gas token. In 1969 and 1970, the Shell Oil Company issued a State of the Union coin game booklet as part of a promotion for their gas stations. People collected these aluminum tokens of each of the 50 states and got prizes.

The United States Mint did not strike aluminum coins for circulation. Somehow, three of these aluminum Shell tokens were accidentally mixed in a bin of blank planchets or deliberately taken in. It is also unclear whether these were intentionally made or struck during the normal minting process. Furthermore, they were either taken out of the Mint or surfaced in sealed proof sets where a lucky collector discovered them.

These three aluminum Shell tokens were struck by the proof Kennedy Half Dollar dies. This example, the only Missouri State, was double struck on-center. The immense pressure from the dies expanded the size of the struck token to nearly the full size of a Kennedy Half Dollar. On the obverse, design from the token understrike is clearly visible including the words COIN GAME. On the reverse, design from the token understrike is also visible including the word MISSOURI.

Proof coins are struck by technicians who hand feed the blanks into special presses. They are produced, examined and packaged using extreme quality control. It is very unusual to find major proof errors. A few broadstrikes, off-centers, double strikes (in collar) and off-metals have been known to be found in sealed proof sets. Proof errors are aggressively sought after by many error collectors.

For comparison purposes, I sold one of the other 2 known Proof Kennedy Half Dollars struck over struck tokens. That one was dated 1973-S and was certified Proof 65 by PCGS. Since it was my brand new discovery, it was certified as struck over a struck token but subsequently, research was done on these three mint errors and this one was found to be also struck on an aluminum Shell Gas Token from Oregon. I sold it to a collector of proof errors for $10,000. The Kennedy Half Dollar on a Missouri Token offered in this listing has considerably more detail visible from the token design.

Also for comparison purposes, I sold a 1983-P Washington Quarter in mint state, struck over a token. This mint error was certified by NGC and realized $15,862 as lot number 6291 in the 2014 FUN Heritage Auction. This Kennedy Half Dollar on a Shell Gas Token is not only larger and in aluminum but also double struck and in proof.




On the obverse, the words COIN GAME are visible from the token design:




On the reverse, the doubling of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is visible:










Below is the State of the Union Coin Game booklet:

For comparison purposes, I sold one of the other 2 known Proof Kennedy Half Dollars struck over struck tokens. This one was dated 1973-S and was certified Proof 65 by PCGS. Since it was my brand new discovery, it was certified as struck over a struck token but subsequently, research was done on these three mint errors and this one was found to be also struck on an aluminum Shell Gas Token from Oregon. I sold it to a collector of proof errors for $10,000. The Kennedy Half Dollar on a Missouri Token offered in this listing has considerably more detail visible from the token design.

Also for comparison purposes, I sold a 1983-P Washington Quarter in mint state, struck over a token. This mint error was certified by NGC and realized $15,862 as lot number 6291 in the 2014 FUN Heritage Auction. This Kennedy Half Dollar on a Shell Gas Token is not only larger and in aluminum but also double struck and in proof.

Intentional Errors One of the most controversial categories of U.S. coins are mint errors. Many dealers and collectors, as well as coin auction houses, buy, sell, trade and auction many rare, exotic and unique major mint errors. Obviously, some of these defy logic and were intentionally created and taken out of the Mint. In the early 2000's, a group of several hundred U.S. error coins were found in a safe-deposit box. Fred Weinberg purchased this group which included coins struck for proof sets and also coins struck for circulation. This group was auctioned by the California State Controller's Office of Unclaimed Property. The U.S. Secret Service inspected and released this collection to the State of California determining that it was legal to own. The State of California then auctioned the collection and the rest is history. Another example of U.S. error coins escaping the Mint occurred in the 1970's. A hoard of proof error coins were smuggled out of the San Francisco Mint inside the oil pans of forklifts that were being serviced outside of the Mint. This topic was discussed in the June 6, 2022 Issue of Coin World, which covered Fred Weinberg's account of this story. The Coin World Managing Editor concluded: Obviously, the marketplace accepts these coins, and some collectors are happy paying thousands of dollars for coins that show every indication of having been created through illegal means. In Episode 11 of the PCGS video series Slab Lab, Seth Chandler interviews Fred Weinberg. In part 2 of the interview, Fred explains in detail why mint errors that are decades old are not recovered by the U.S. Mint. Fred's recollection of conversations in his office with the Chief of the U.S. Mint Police are extremely insightful and explain why the Mint doesn't attempt to recover error coins from decades ago.

Overstrikes are featured in Chapter 19 of my
NLG award winning book, World's Greatest Mint Errors: