Arizona State Quarter "Extra Cactus" (long read)

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by sf340flier, Jul 11, 2008.

  1. sf340flier

    sf340flier New Member

    Semi-long read, so cruise past if crunched for time...

    Even though I am not a big collector of moderns, the other night I did a search on ebay for state quarter varieties, and came across the so-called "extra-cactus" variety. Apparently, Coin World did an article on this on June 30, but I no longer have a subscription so I missed it.

    So the next day, I decide what the heck, and have my local dealer pull a couple of rolls worth out of his mint bag. I got them home, and found about 1/3 had the "extra cactus" covering the designer's initials (JFM) and 13 out of the 80 had the "extra cactus" covering both the initials and the date.

    I went back to my dealer, told him about the errors I found (he was unaware of these -- we have a great relationship), and we split the rest of the bag between us. I have since found several more of the date covering cactus variety (and I'm assuming he did as well). He sells quite frequently on ebay, so I'm sure he plans on listing his finds asap (because he is a dealer of course).

    For those not familiar with this error, here are some pictures from ebay (not me or my dealer). The middle and bottom photo are normal dies, while the top one is the variety (note the date and the initials are covered):

    [​IMG]

    My question for the group: the date covering variety is fetching around $20-$25 bucks right now on ebay, and the inital-only covering variety is getting $3-$5. What is everyone's opinion on whether these are truly rare and worth a long-term hold, or whether I should fire sale them this weekend? I will keep a few for myself as a collector no matter what.

    I'm trying to figure out whether I got a lucky bag, or is everyone finding these?

    As a thanks in advance, and for all the help from everyone over the years, I will hold a giveaway! I'll post the details in the giveaway forum, but the winner will be chosen at random and will get a date-covering extra cactus Arizona BU quarter from my hoard (including shipping)! These are currently selling for $20-25 on ebay right now.
     
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  3. jaceravone

    jaceravone Member

    Nice finds! I always think it is exciting when you find something unique like this. I don't know why one sells for more than the other, but would expect that it has to do with supply and demand. Maybe also the fact that extra cactus over the date is more noticable than over the initials so it is more desired. I found a Oklahoma extra wing variety the other day and posted pics of it on here the other night. Although it was circulated and pretty much worth 25 cents, it is still a neat thing to have found. Joe
     
  4. coleguy

    coleguy Coin Collector

    I've been on the lookout for one of these myself, but just haven't had the desire to spend twenty bucks on a new quarter. One of the neater looking die break effects out there in my opinion.
    Guy~
     
  5. Conder101

    Conder101 Numismatist

    It's a die chip for gosh sakes. As a general rule die chips add little or nothing to the value of a coin. The NV quarter is known for die chips. As far as I know they don't have any premium. Almost no one cares about "BIE" Lincoln cents any more. Lincolns with clogged digits and clogged D mintmarks have no value. I'd sell while the hype is hot and put the money into something you want for your collection. If you want to try and hold on a bit to see if you can maybe get more that is up to you but remember "Pigs get fed, Hogs get slaughtered".
     
  6. erwizard

    erwizard Numismatic RN

    well said conder
     
  7. Leadfoot

    Leadfoot there is no spoon

    I would keep the best few examples for myself, and sell the rest quickly.
     
  8. clembo

    clembo A closed mind is no mind

    Kind of going with Conder101 on this one.

    Yet another miniscule "error" on a state quarter. What's next? Another hairline on Washington's head?

    I personally like the Lincoln BIE errors because they are easy to spot. Most modern errors are just hype IMHO.

    Sell them while you can and buy something that won't plummet in value when the hype is over.
     
  9. sf340flier

    sf340flier New Member

    Thanks for the feedback everyone.

    I think I'm going with Leadfoot's advice. I'm going to keep a few for myself, and sell the rest on ebay. I don't think this is the next "extra leaf" Wiscony or anything, but I do think it's a neat little error, easily seen with the naked eye...which is cool.
     
  10. erwizard

    erwizard Numismatic RN

    Hey btw, I posted a pic of this a few weeks back but I found what I think is a much better error on 4 AZ Denver mint quarters:
     

    Attached Files:

  11. parsonsfw

    parsonsfw New Member

    I have about 4 of these and not sure whether to hold on to or sell. They are all pulled out of circulation.
     
  12. TheNoost

    TheNoost huldufolk

    I have a few of the minor one (over initials) left. Had a giveaway and gave some to friends. Been looking for a cacti over date in rolls to complete the set. No luck yet. Good luck with whatever you decide.
     
  13. Edinmem

    Edinmem hobbyist

    The thrill may soon end and you will be left with very little in real value. Sell while the selling is good. ...and cool find
     
  14. Quarter_Collector

    Quarter_Collector New Member

    Hi, I've only used this website a few times before in the past but I have a 1912 Arizona state quarter that has what looks like a small horizantal cut at the top of the cactus, and I was wondering if it might be some kind of error coin, or if it might have some other error that I didn't notice before. And if it does, around how much would I be able to get for it?
    Thanks

    (P.S. I unfortunately just found out that it won't let me upload my image of my coin, so hopefully you can rely on the description of the coin to see if it's worth anything?)
     
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