New Zealand. Queen Elizabeth II. 1960 Threepences x2. KM# 25.2. An already significant pre-decimal error and a far greater rarity to be found together as a pair after more than half a century from its striking. A Unique or Very Rare Item.

At the start of its minting process, two blank planchets, Coin 1 ( 1.39g, ) and the underweight Coin 2 ( 0.70g ) were struck together; this oversized double blank was then fed into the machine where it was struck as a regular coin. This resulted in a well struck Obverse with Queen Elizabeth II on Coin 1 and a well struck reverse on Coin 2. However, when they separated post minting, there was a faint image of the reverse left in relief on Coin 1, and an incuse image left on Coin 2.

Additional Information Update Coin 2 - Die Crack in left Patu. The metal flow lines from the striking process on both specimens are inverse ( the mirror image of each other ), indicating that the Royal Mint accidentally created them together as a pair - and has remained together since 1960.