Hello: Just saw a seller on e-bay selling position a & b 2012 Native American $1 coins. What is the difference?
I believe he is referring to the orientation of the edge lettering. If the coin is face-up and the edge lettering is right-side-up I think that is Orientation A and if the lettering is upside-down I think that is Orientation B. (It could be vice-versa but you get the idea.) This is a made-up issue as there is no "correct" orientation of the edge lettering. After they are struck the coins are fed into the edge-lettering machine completely randomly. Half have Orientation A and half have Orientation B.
What Hobo said is correct, except that Position B is when the coin is Heads Up and the edge lettering is readable. Position A is when the coin is tails up and the edge lettering is readable. As mentioned, for regular issue circulation strike coins the edge lettering is applied in what is considered a "random" process with the Position A and B lettering being applied about 50% each. When grading coins, PCGS differentiates between the two edge lettering orientations, while NGC does not. In my opinion this differentiation is simply a marketing ploy for PCGS to grade more coins and make more slots in their registry sets that people feel the need/obsession to fill.
Thank you brg5658 and Hobo. You saved me a couple of bucks. Question not on the subject, but Hobo do you engrave the Indian head coins I have seen for sale? If so you do beautiful work.
No, I don't carve Hobo Nickels but I do collect them. The Original Hobo Nickels are pretty expensive so I only have a few so far.
Actually you were correct the first time. Traditionally coins are identified by their obverse designs. There are only a few cases where common usage identifies them by the reverse. And that tends to be common usage, not how they are officially described. The five cent piece issued between 1913 and 1938 is technically the Indian head five cent piece, and commonly called the buffalo nickel.
