I have a 1999 US Mint proof set that I purchased when they first started issuing the 50 State Quarters sets. It is in it's origional box and I had it locked up. Last night I got my coins out and was looking at them when I noticed something strange. The nickel, dime, and half dollar all have a gold color to them on the mirror surface while the raised heads are silver. The gold color is also on the mirror surface on the reverse with the raised portions being silver. Also the gold color seems to be a little bit into Rosevelt's hair on the dime and across Jefferson's shoulders and touching his hair also. Thats not all. On the nickel, when you flip it over , Monticello is rotated 45 degrees to the left. There is no smudging or odd strike marks. It is a perfectly clear mint. What is up with this strange set of proof coins and what type of value range should they generate? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Howdy Squirrel - Welcome to the Forum !! Sounds like you have a Proof set that is toning - it's perfectly normal. Some even find desirable. As for the rotated coin - please post pics of the set and then perhaps we can be of more help.
Pics of rotated reverse I hope this works. If it did you can see the nickle is slightly rotated in the packaging with Jeffersons head at the 1:30 position. So when the coin is flipped over the dome of monticello should be at the 1:30 position and it is at the 10:00 position.
The coin is rotated slightly, but not as much as it might appear. I saved the pics and rotated them 1 degree at a time until they were properly positioned. It required 23 degrees of rotation to have the obverse correctly oriented. It required 28 degrees of rotation to have the reverse correctly oriented. Thus the reverse is only 5 degrees out of rotation. This is not enough for the coin to be worth a premium.
Yes,I agree. It seems to be more an optical illusion in the packaging as I played with a regular coin to try and duplicate the effect. Thank-you very much for your time.
Bruce, If Doug doesn't mind, I will give you my observations on the collectibility of coins with Rotated Reverse Dies! While a coin with a 90 degree rotation on the Reverse Die will bring some premium over a normal struck coin, many collectors will not even consider purchasing these types of errors as well paying a premium for them unless they are at least 130 degrees or more rotated. There are others that require that a coin must have a rotation of at least or more than 150 degrees. Frank
I'm not an error collector Bruce, but I have heard others make similar comments to Frank's. I have also heard others say that a coin with more than 35 deg. of rotation is considered desirable. I would think that would especially apply to a Proof coin.
