Grease filled die and die cracks are the only common errors I can think of that are easy to spot because of size. Anyone else?
Well, the die is a mirror image of the coin -- that is, if it sticks up on the coin (relief) then its a trough on the die and vice-versa. Example: The "L" of Liberty is raised above the field of the Lincoln cent. On the die it would be cut into the field. The dies are what strike the planchet causing the design to raise - or "bloom" - onto the coin. The dies strike the planchet with a good deal of force. Eventually the dies wear out. One of the things that can happen to the die is a crack may form. Since the crack will form a small trough in the die, it will appear as a raised line on the coin. Do a site-search of CoinTalk and you'll probably find some examples. There's a nice one here: http://www.cointalk.org/showthread.php?t=29906&highlight=die+crack Die cracks are very common and usually carry no premium.
well, you're welcome, BUT I'm certainly no expert. Wait for others to chime in. Get multiple perspectives. Get multiple opinions. And form your own. And welcome to CoinTalk. {edit} Oh, and don't apologize for being a noob. No one is born with knowledge. Everyone here was a noob at least once. Some of us twice. Or maybe that's just me.
Same errors you would look for on any coin, clips, major die breaks, off-centers, partial collars, double strikes, laminations, planchets split either before or after striking, on the clad coins missing clad layers. On stuff before about 1997 you can look for doubled dies as well. (There are some doubled dies known after they started using the single squeeze hubbing but I consider them to be so minor as to not be worth fooling with. You may feel differently.)
cwtokenman, WOW!!!! Talking about a shattered Obverse Die! I have seen lots of coins with Die Cracks, Die Breaks and have seen and even owned a series (set) of coins that showed the entire progression of Die Cracks to Die Breaks to Die Failure but never anything like your 1863 Tokens! Frank
I like these shattered dies myself. I have perhaps a dozen of the shattered Broas Bros. ones. Actually, the Indian head side is the reverse. The obverse with tokens is the side that has the merchant's name on it. While the same reverse die was used, the two tokens shown were made with different obverse dies. This is easily seen by the varying distances between the street address and "COUNTRY". I have cwts from a few other merchants that were made from similarly shattered dies, but they are not as easily found as the Broas Brothers ones. I can not take a picture of high enough quality to show it, but the clashed die shown here occurred more than once. Some of my tokens show a single Indian head imprint, while some others are clearly doubled (and slightly shifted). Tokens can be an error lovers paradise, as many token manufacturers used dies until they were literally unusable.
The Broas Brothers were rather prolific token issuers, with 76 varieties of Civil War tokens, many of which are very common, and I think around 10 of them have clashed/shattered dies. Pretty interesting pieces for show and tell, and for decent examples as shown above going in the $20 ballpark, they are very affordable.
