PEOPLE: U.S.MINT'S TRASH IS ONE MAN'S GOLD

Greg Senske isn't a coin collector, but he knew he had something unusual when he received change from a factory cafeteria and noticed the head of George Washington stamped on one side of a Sacagawea gold dollar.

The Cape Girardeau man's find -- a rare U.S. Mint error -- could be worth $30,000 to $45,000, but he's not ready to sell. He says he wants to enjoy owning it for a while.

"It was a shock," Senske said of his find. "I was pretty much shaken the rest of the day. I couldn't believe I had a coin of that value."

It isn't known how many Sacagawea coin hybrids will turn up, but Senske's was the fifth among only six to be discovered so far. The "mule error," as U.S. Mint officials call it, was created when a Sacagawea dollar die and a Washington quarter die mistakenly were used, resulting in the double denomination.

Historically, the mint makes mis-strikes from time to time and they get into circulation. Mint officials refused to comment on how the mule error occurred but did admit to Coin World magazine, a respected journal for collectors, that a coin error had been made resulting in three giant bins of the error coin.

Most of the coins, clad in a brass mixture, were melted down and destroyed.

Senske, a manufacturing technician, said he didn't notice his mule coin at first, having obtained three Sacagawea dollars in change during a morning break on Aug. 30 at Procter & Gamble Co. He returned to the cafeteria at noon for lunch and spent one of his remaining three coins.

He said he remembered reading about the mule coins and looked at the remaining two coins en route to his work station.

One was a regular dollar, but the other was the mule-error coin.

He later went back to the cafeteria and purchased the remaining 45 coins but didn't find any others of exceptional value. A week later, he took his coin to River City Coins and Jewelry owned by coin dealer Michael Sprouse.

"I looked the coin over," said Sprouse. "I thought it was genuine and suggested that Senske contact the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America for authentication and grading. The coin graded out at MS-67. This is a good grading."

The first mule coin was found in Mountain Home, Ark., in an uncirculated roll purchased from the first National Bank & Trust Co. of Mountain Home. Four of the six discovered coins have been sold for the amounts of $41,395; $31,050; $31,000 and $47,000.

Senske's coin will be displayed at the Coin and Collectibles Expo in Long Beach, Calif., this week. He plans to attend.