Flipping Over First-Ever Mint Mishap

It looks like George Washington might be a little jealous of all the attention Sacagawea is getting on the new $1 coin.

One of the rare dollars, which are made at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, was discovered in Arkansas with the front of a Washington quarter and the back of a Sacagawea dollar.

It is believed to mark the first error of its kind in the Mint’s 208-year history--and the coin could fetch as much as $100,000, experts say.

“It’s ironic when you think that the U.S. Mint spent $40 million on an ad campaign about how George Washington is happy he’s not on the dollar coin,” Beth Deisher, editor of Coin World magazine, said Thursday.

It is not known whether other coins with the same error are in circulation. A representative for the U.S. Mint did not return a call seeking comment.

An Arkansas man found the coin in an uncirculated roll of gold-colored dollars purchased from a bank. A coin dealer will auction the coin during the American Numismatic Assn.’s national convention in Philadelphia in August.