Fascinating New "Time Capsule" Discovery: 1980s Lonesome John Devine Error Collection

I wanted to share an exceptional piece of error-collecting history that was just made public. A collector recently revealed a true "time capsule" collection of more than 40 raw, un-graded mint errors originally acquired from the legendary dealer "Lonesome John" Devine back in the early 1980s. Remarkably, the coins survived sitting untouched inside Devine's original, vintage blue vinyl flips for over 40 years.
The major highlight of the group so far is a spectacular 1943 steel cent, double struck on both the obverse and reverse, which PCGS recently authenticated and graded AU55. For a major error to survive on a one-year-only wartime steel issue is incredible on its own, but the 40-year provenance makes it even better.
The balance of the collection is currently being sent in for grading and reportedly includes dramatic die caps, late-stage brockages, and clipped planchets.
I am leaving the direct link to the full Mint Error News feature and the coin images!!

https://minterrornews.com/features-5-24-26-a-collection-of-error-coins-from-lonesome-john.html

 

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I read the article and I noticed that on the photograph of the slabbed 1943 cent error that the slab did not include the provenance of the coin. To me, that is a grievous short coming given the importance of Lonesome-John to error collectors. Hopefully going forward future slabs will mention that coin is attributed to Lonesome John. I imagine that the attribution will add to value to the coin(s).

 

see bellow...

 

Good point about the missing provenance on the label. While it is a shortcoming, the coin is also pictured next to its original Lonesome John flip insert.
Visual anchors like the original insert help preserve that crucial history for the community. Including the pedigree directly on the slab label in the future would definitely be a plus. This official recognition would cement its historical importance even more. Seem's like PCGS dropped the ball on that part of it's submission, but having it next to its original flip incert is just as good in my opinion!

 

Error collectors practically sing songs about Lonesome Jonn and his error coin photography.

Around 2007 I bought a medal on Ebay from his wife Peggy. It was the 1967 medal for the Conejo Valley Coin Club that he had designed

R.I.P Lonesome John

 

I have a few of those blue flips from "Lonesome John", I even have a loop that John was displeased with the image it produced and said to me " you want this thing" I said yes and he gave it to me. I don't remember the year, but I do remember it was at an error convention (CONECA?) in Cherry Hill, NJ.

 

I did a close up of the pictures provided on the link.
They are common errors. I probably have examples of most of them in my collection.

 

"While the visible coins might look common, the article explicitly states there are over 40 coins in the total collection. Since the photos only show a few of them and there is no full list breakdown, we cannot judge the entire collection yet. The unreleased pieces could easily contain rare items, such as the 1943 double struck."