Recently, two groups of unstruck U.S. feeder fingers for the Sacagawea Dollar and other denominations surfaced. The Arrow Tool & Die company had a government contract to produce feeder fingers used in the production of modern U.S. coinage. After the Arrow Tool & Die company closed down, these unused feeder fingers intended to be sent to the U.S. Mint were offered for sale. To date, at least 15 are known and some have been certified and encapsulated by NGC.

Heritage Auctions recently sold two of these and others will likely show up.

Sold for $2,520.00 in the March 2024
Error Coinage US Coins Showcase Auction #60372




Sold for $1,920.00 in the June 2024
Error Coinage US Coins Showcase Auction #60385

Images Courtesy of Heritage Auctions

A different group of unused U.S. feeder fingers surfaced in 2007 when Dan Carr, owner of the private Moonlight Mint, purchased a Grabener press and decided to restore it. He discovered coins, feeder fingers, and mint errors in the oil pan. Dan struck a Moonlight Mint commemorative medal on most of these feeder fingers and kept a few for himself. I purchased the first one from Dan, certified it at NGC, and broke the news that these were in the numismatic marketplace.

Moonlight Mint's Grabener Coin Press:



Here is the turntable (indexer) with
stainless-steel feeder fingers for quarters:



A couple hundred feeder fingers were in the crate:



Photos courtesy of Moonlight Mint








Images Courtesy of Mike Byers

Additionally, there are a few U.S. coins struck on the entire feeder finger. NGC has certified a 2007 George Washington Presidential Dollar struck on a feeder finger and Heritage Auctions has sold a 2000-D Maryland Quarter struck on a feeder finger, also certified by NGC.

Image Courtesy of NGC

In 2000, I was the first dealer to discover a new type of U.S. Major Mint Error, Coins Struck on Feeder Finger Tips. In my NLG award-winning book, World's Greatest Mint Errors, I devoted a chapter to this new type of error.

Images Courtesy of Mike Byers