Hi all~ Obvious newbie here! And just getting started scrutinizing a big batch of coins for errors... am struck (unlike some coins I'm finding, lol ;->) by how many I'm seeing (starting on quarters) that have what appear to be obvious filled die/struck thru grease errors. I'm wondering if there's any easy way to tell if something's PMD or truly mint damaged? Also, am I correct to assume that 'struck thru grease' is a type of filled-die error? Are other filled-die errors? Sadly, I'm beginning to wonder if doing this is truly worthwhile--aside from personal collecting, that is--in terms of actual, physical cash value?--my 'modus operandi' behind studying the coins rather than simply dropping 'em into a coin machine. I mean, being that it appears 10 of 29 quarters I've checked so far seem to have some kind of 'error'--at that rate can any of 'em truly be that valuable? Let me qualify that by saying I realize some damage is more valuable than others, but in my case it's mostly where letters appear missing/illegible -- i.e., one clearly looks like it says 'L Pluribus Unum', and there are two others that have 'E Pluribus Unu' because those letters maybe didn't strike properly??--Or maybe, because I'm so new at this, these really aren't mistakes at all?? I thought I'd researched thoroughly enough what to look for in pix and text, but am finding that the more I look at my own coins, the more I'm questioning what I've 'learned' thus far.... and wondering if the time necessary to go thru my massive pile will be futile. :scratch: Just for grins and chuckles, I browsed ebay to see what some of the error coins go for and--from my own selling experience--know that selling something for, say, 79-99 cents just isn't worth the time, effort, fees & postage....no? Of course some errors sold for much more but those were mostly rarer ones with rarer mistakes. Do most people on here collect for the joy of it? Has/does anyone make $$ doing so? Am I going about this all wrong? Thoughts? Hints? Advice? Chiding? Arse-whooping? :goofer: Thanks kindly~ Dawn aka dawnzig
Dawn, Most grease-filled die errors are pretty common, and it would have to be a pretty extreme case to make it worth a substantial premium. Usually, when you see a coin that has some of the letters/numbers missing, it is most likely due to a filled die or the coin was intentionally altered. Usually, alterations can be detected by close examination such as with a microscope where you can see that the metal has been moved or scraped in some way. This would be considered Post Mint Damage (PMD) and usually relegates the coin to either face value or melt value if it is made of a precious metal like silver or gold. If you want to get an idea what the more valuable errors are selling for, I might suggest that you browse through the listings on Fred Weinberg's site. There you can see all kinds of errors like off-center strikes, struck on wrong planchets, clad layers missing, etc. Most collectors enjoy the hobby for the pleasure it gives them, and making money from it is secondary. Sure, they would like nothing more than to be able to buy a coin that increases in value or find one out of circulation that is worth much more than face value, but when you stop and think about it, most modern issues are produced by the tens of millions, and finding that one-in-a-million coin does not happen all that often. If you're searching circulated coins hoping to make some money on errors, then I would suggest that you buy rolls of half dollars or quarters from the bank and look for the 90% silver coins that were produced through 1964 instead. For example, a 1964 Kennedy half contains .36169 oz of pure silver and would be worth roughly $11.50. I'm not saying that you will be successful finding them most of the time, but when you can make about 1000% profit on each one, wouldn't it make more sense looking for them rather than errors (which will probably give you massive headaches anyway). NOTE: Kennedy half dollars struck 1965-1970 are 40% silver and contain .1479 oz of pure silver. Chris
Thank you very much for all the great answers, Chris. I will take a look at Weinberg's site--I hadn't heard of it before now. And I like your idea of looking for pre-64 half dollars. I actually have several from my childhood collecting days.... along with buffalo nickels, indian head pennies and silver dimes that belonged to my grandfather. Guess I just needed to put this whole thing back in perspective--was getting overwhelmed by the number of coins vs. the joy of the hunt! Thanks again, Dawn
Pre-65 are 90%; 1965-1970 are 40%. So, if you'd like to see what a one-in-ten million error looks like.......... I got it out of a $100 Mixed P&D bag direct from the Mint. It cost me 68c.
wow, that's exciting stuff! Guess finding things like that does make it worthwhile!--and gives me something else to research: P&D bags.
Mike, The 2001-D Kennedy is missing the clad layer on the reverse. Like I said, I found it in a $100 Mixed P&D Mint Bag, and it is one of only two known for that date/mintmark. The other one was also found in one of these bags, and the owner of that coin sold it raw on eBay for $555. I submitted mine for grading, and I still have it. The other coin is a 2005-S Silver Proof KS SQ with a die dent on the butt of the bison. There are only twelve known for this variety. I submitted it to NGC for grading, and it came back PF70UCAM. These are old photos in which it was originally classified as a Mint Error. Unfortunately, errors do not show up in the census, but in 2012, this error became a variety listed in the CPG. So, I resubmitted it to NGC for the attribution (FS-901), and it instantly became a Top Pop with no others. Less than two months later, I was contacted by a buyer's agent in California and sold it for $1K. I realize this is more information than you wanted, but being a rookie (as you put it) I thought you might enjoy the background on them. Chris
Very nice, thanks Chris, I do appreciate the response and history of it. I find it all interesting. One question, as most of what I've collected so far is currency, what is a clad layer? I'll google it but I imagine it'll be easier to get the answer from you. Thanks again
