Hub retouching
This sub-category includes all the mistakes made by the engraver during the hub design phase.
Typically, industry experts notice such imprint errors when dies produced from poorly designed coins are distributed to banks and then after they enter circulation as ordinary coins. Upon reporting to the director of the mint, the error is ascertained, after which the production of the coins is temporarily suspended to allow the engraver to correct the engravings, before continuing with the minting of the desired total circulation.
A famous example in Italy is certainly that of the 1,000 Lire 1997 R Italia Turrita coins, which present the famous error of wrong borders in the reverse geographic map.
In this case, the engraver had to provide for the correction of the borders of reunified Germany, the correct borders of Holland and Luxembourg previously ignored, but the position of Denmark is not correct (E.C.70). For many years this minting error was considered as a variety (see Varieties).
Statistics confirm that about 50% of a total circulation of 80,000,000 1000 lire 1997 coins were actually minted with the wrong geographic boundaries.
Therefore, although it must be distinguished from a classic variety, this coin is common in both cases and consequently this design error does not increase the numismatic value beyond the standard catalog price for this coin.