I've tried to take a picture of this coin. But it always comes out blurry. Anybody know anything about the incomplete ponytail variety of the 1966 Jefferson Nickel?
I pulled this one from circulation and compared it to the uncirculated one I have in my book. The difference between to two is more obvious when sat side by side. There are 2 pieces of hair at the bottom of the ponytail. The one I suspect to be an error only has one strand and it's disconnected from the ponytail.
Does this help? Left: the 1966 Jefferson from my coin album. Right: the incomplete ponytail variety I found. Definitely a filled die. Maybe a lesser known error. I've only found one other example of an incomplete ponytail from 1966 online.
Is this specific error common? Like I said, I could only find one other reference to it when I googled it.
Yes it is very common. If you specifically look for it on your coins you will find a lot of examples. Overpolishing isn't really an error, it is just a later state of a normal die. It is only an "error" in the sense the pressman made an error in continuing to use the die rather than retiring it. Dies would sometimes be polished in order to remove clash marks, or sometimes to extend the life of a die by polishing off excessive or heavy die flow lines. The polishing lowers the field and if it is lowered enough it polishes away the highest points of the devices in the die. Those high points form the shallowest areas of the design such as the portions of the ponytail missing on your coin.
I'm sure it doesn't increase the value by much. But in time, it should be worth more than it would be otherwise.
I have two of these coins and both have rim cuds in the exact same location at the bottom of the ponytail.
The interesting thing about yours is that it (the ponytail) appears to run right off the rim of the coin. Are you sure you can't get better shots: the whole Obv & Rev and a little wider field on the area in question? Thanks. Semper Fidelis
Follow-up, I'm not always sure about my "Left" and "Right", but the one on the "Left" appears to indicate 199x with the "1" only partially seen probably due to the grease filled die; I believe you said that your coin was a "1966"? Either way, both coins are interesting. Semper Fidelis
@Shrews1994 reread my explanation in post #9. As far as I know there is no such thing as a "ponytail error" just detail missing from overpolishing and it can be found on many years not just 1966.