2002 Tenth Ounce Proof Britannia Gold Coin Maklouf Mule Mint Error NGC PF70

A 2002 tenth ounce gold proof Britannia carrying an extraordinary error. It bears the third portrait of Elizabeth II by Maklouf not the fourth by Ian Rank-Broadley. This die was replaced in 1998 and had no earthly business being anywhere near the production line 4 years later when this coin was struck. To give an example of just how rare these kind of die mule errors are - the US mint has never minted and released one.

The 2002 Britannia four coin Gold proof set was limited to just 1,000 sets plus another 1,500 coins reserved for the tenth Britannia (although all examples we know of all came from the four coin set). We believe it was 2019 when news first broke of the mule error - sending collectors scurrying off to check their sets. Over 20 years have elapsed since their issue and very few examples of this mule have surfaced - indicating that there are indeed extremely rare. As of September 2022 we believe the population of this error to be 10 coins.

Graded by NGC as PF70 - you can be sure that no better example exists.