Are rare close/wide AMs considered varieties or errors? Authorities differ... I side with Mike's die installation error, but Wexler and CPG have them listed as varieties. I am not sure what Wiles, Daughtrey, Potter, or Scott consider them. Does anyone know how these could be considered varieties? It's a proof die used for business strikes. There is no variety on the die itself.
Most websites consider them Varieties Here is one - https://varietyerrors.com/coins/wide-am-and-close-am-lincoln-varieties/ This one calls them Variations - http://www.lincolncentcollection.com/closeamwideam.php This one also states Varieties - http://lincolncentsonline.com/closeWide.html Also a variety - https://coinzip.com/articlesPage.php?i=188
I see them as a variety of the coin type/issue. I'm good with those that wish to call them error coins.
I'd call it a variety since they were intentionally made that way. I thought I was a variety until my dad told me I was an error. Still not worth much.
Variety. My feeling is that errors either happen during the making of the die or the striking of the coin. Of course clips fall into the error category also.
Thank you all for the responses! I figured out that Daughtrey calls them errors as well. Wiles has them listed in design varieties, but every Memorial cent has a design variety, so that can't be the same as a die variety. In my mind, if it is considered a variety, every Memorial die is a variety, as each has a particular reverse design that differs from earlier years. *shrugs*
I can't see the variety side, no. They are proof dies, so they'd be the same as the dies that struck proof coins. And if they're the same, there is no room for some unintentional difference on the die itself, like an RPM or doubled die.
Think of the Wisconsin quarter. High Leaf and Low Leaf. Both were minted at the Mint yet they are both varieties. Why? A disgruntled Mint employee placed a scratch on the dies causing this. Then you have things like struck throughs and off center strikes. Both are errors.
In the general area of coins, Wide AM's, (for example) are called errors; collectors of them (and other varieties) call them Die Varieties, which they are. "Errors" is a catch-all phrase, but Off Centers are not Die Varieties, and Die Varieties are more accurately called D.V. to differentiate them from mechanical striking or planchet errors.
Personally I would call the low and high leaf die errors since they happened to the die after it was created. Maybe similar to intentional die abrasion for removing clashes as being a die error. I need to think about this more. It is a huge topic because of widespread disagreement among authorities and general collectors. Edit: I think some differences stem from the "varieties born with the die" rule. Is that a necessary rule? Contested!