Error in Proof coin. How rare?

I have a very complicated case, maybe you could help me to find answers.

I have a commemorative silver 5 Euro coin issued this year in original round plastic capsule. Coin was issued by national bank in Proof (!) quality and issue limit was 10 000 coins.
National bank informed collectors that design of this coin will contain 3 national flags that will be in colours. There are no other designs- just this one with 3 flags in colours.

Coin I bought from national bank was with error in its design- 2/3 of colours in 3rd flag were missing (colour is missing on 22.2% of surface where it should have been)...

It is 100% sure that there are no pieces of fell-off colour in the round plastic capsule and this capsule is for 100% in the same condition national bank sold it to me. Nobody has ever opened or made any changes to it or coin!
At the place, where should be colours of 3rd flag, there is nothing: no dots of colour, no scratches, no dust, no traces of chemicals (cleaners or something), nothing. Just silver.
I think this error was made in mint and somehow passed all quality tests for coin to be called Proof (!) in mint and national bank and was sold to collector- me. (Sometime people don't see simple things that are in front of their eyes...)

I informed national bank about this situation and they gave me an answer that this is an error and there should not be coins with 2/3 of colours in 3rd flag missing. National bank also confirmed that this is the only case known.

Due to the fact that none of the collectors I know have ever seen or heard anything about this type of error, I started to search on internet. I wasn't able to find any information about this kind of errors...

I hope you can give me some ideas about my case. I wanted to understand:

1) Is this kind of error (not fully coloured elements in Proof (!) coins) considered to be rare between Proof (!) dollars, euros, pounds, rubles etc.?
2) Is this kind of error collectable?
3) Is this kind of error considered to be more valuable than typical errors (broadstrikes, off-centers, double strikes in collars, off-metals etc.)?
4) Are there known worldwide examples between Proof (!) dollars, euros, pounds, rubles etc. with this kind of mint error? (for example- coin with American flag missing blue colour; coin with colibri bird with wings left silver white etc.)

All this situation is something completely new for me. I have never ever before read so many articles about coin errors than during last 7 days.


Thank you very much for your time and answers!
Have a good day!

 

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Pictures, please. And not cellphone pictures. And right-side up. At this point, we don't even know what country the coin's from.

 

Right place to ask, but a picture (good one) is worth considerably more than a thousand words.

 

Is this the coin you are referring to?



If so, I doubt that something so obscure would have any added value but then anything is possible.

As for an "error", these colors are obviously applied post minting so, make of it what you will but, again, I seriously doubt that such an occurrence would have more value than those you presented in item 3:

"3) Is this kind of error considered to be more valuable than typical errors (broadstrikes, off-centers, double strikes in collars, off-metals etc.)?".

 

Colours were applied in mint. National bank received coins already with colours.

You think that, coins with this rare mint error won't be considered to be valuable?

In my opinion, if there is possibility that there are only few examples in worldwide currencies, it is rarity, and rarity = value. Value can be set only by market. Value can be set high and it can be set low. Rarity, of course, will influence it.

So far I have shown this coin to few local collectors, and they have valued it by amount that can't be called low.

I can agree only on fact, that it would be better, if this type of error is accepted by professional numismatics and placed on catalogues.

 

The fact the bank receives the coins with the colors o them does not mean for sure they were applied at the mint. They could very well have been sent to a third party for coloring before they were sent on to the bank.

 

Also, it may be easy to remove color(s) with a solvent like acetone, etc., to create the appearance of rarity. Yours may be genuine, but the ones that come later, always suspicious to the Buyer.

I "assume" the coin's from Latvia, no one has mentioned a country yet.

 

Since the US Mint doesen't do colorized coins (thank goodness) and as most of the members here are more familiar with US coin errors, which only relate to the actual striking of the coin, I don't know if you'll get a good answer to your question. Maybe if you posted it in the World and Ancients forum you might get more help.

 

I would consider it a 'packaging error' rather than a minting error , and think it would have a minimal value difference. Some might consider it at even less because of the damage. Although there are some who might be convinced of its perceived value if listed on eBay.

 

Maybe.
But it doesn't influence this case. Bank of Latvia bought it as a product: coin+colours applied.
If it was added by some third company or person after (!) Bank of Latvia sold it to dealers or collectors, value would have changed dramatically. Then coin would have been considered damaged. But it is not the case.

 

Yes, coin is from Latvia.
Agree that somebody might find it suspicious, but for that we have experts that can easily find out the truth.
I think it would be almost impossible to clean off the colour and not to leave any traces. It is hard to tell from this photo, but surface of this coin is like a mirror.
For experts there are always 9999 coins to check- how this coin should look.

 

Why do you consider it to be packaging error?
Agree. There are coin collectors that will see this error as a damage. But there are also collectors that are looking for errors and rarities between them. I think, they won't consider it to be average error with low value.

 

This is the perfect opportunity to use eBay's "hidden appraisal" strategy.

List the coin with a $1000 HIDDEN Reserve, and see what kind of bids you get; that's a good test of collector interest and relative valuation. Cost to list, $10.40 for this type of listing; broken down, 1% of $1000 = $10., plus 40 cents international listing fee.

 

I would sell, and quick

 

I consider it a packaging error , since the coin had already left the minting process and another entity applied the paint and put it into a plastic container. Similar to 2 dimes being put into a U.S. mint set instead of a dime and a cent. I can't argue that there may be some who feel it is worth quite a bit, but I can't see it as a mint error.

 

Try not to confuse rarity with value as the two are ONLY related if more than one person wants the rarity. Then, and only then, is value "possible". Add three to the mix and the odds go up. Throw in a dozen or so and then things might get interesting.

For an item such as your coin, a very clever marketing strategy needs to be implemented and most local coin collectors simply have no idea whats what until a professional and well respected numismatist makes a comment on rarity and desirability. Up to that point, they can only make a judgement off of what YOU say.

"RARE" means nothing if nobody wants it.

 

Yet. You forgot the word YET!

 

You've obviously made up your mind so any further responses are just a waste of time.

Enjoy your rarity and I'll ne looking for it in future Coin World Issues as it should make the front page.

 

Thank you for an idea. Maybe will try this out.