What's the story with these new nickels? This guy on ebay has the exact same situation I have with my two sets that I bought directly from the mint. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3906249016&category=41089
These are not errors - it is rather common actually. It is known as finning and results because of the striking process. What it amounts to is this - say the mint in Denver uses slightly less pressure while striking the coins than Philadelphia does. This causes the rim of the Denver coins to be slightly thinner than the rim of a Philly coin. Multiply that slight difference by 40 and put it in a roll - and all of a sudden it looks like one roll is longer than the other. Well - it is. But both rolls have the same number of coins. It is only the slight difference in the thickness of the rims that makes it so.
Thanks for the clear-up... So shouldn't all the Denver rolls be the same height? Or is the process that "uncontroled". Because there is quite a difference between two of my Denver rolls.
It all depends on the amount of pressure used during the minting process. So the thickness of the rim can vary. And there could be minor variations in the thickness of the paper at the end of the roll as well. These coins are all counted and rolled by machines - so while it is possible for the number of coins in a roll to be off - it is not likely.
