Serious question. May I enquire as to what the fascination is with error coins. Has this purely arisen because of the increased value? An error is an error, so surely that doesn't qualify a coin as rare..just an error...so it's gotta be about the extra dosh value..no?
Mint error coins are rare. And most minting errors are found by the mint and never released into circulation. That makes discovering and holding these unique finds a truly exciting experience. Go ahead and find one, you'll see what I mean.
The Mint has some fairly stringent quality control measures. Although, some errors are fairly common and some coins that people think are errors are not, true errors are interesting coins that are a result of the minting process gone awry. When you consider the billions of coins struck, an error can be quite fascinating. Come on Admit it....it's interesting when something like this shows up in a roll of coins Have Fun, Bill
Nice example Bill. A clear off-center may not be worth a hug premium, but it sure impresses a regular person who thinks it is batty collecting coins... they are like, "Oh wow!" seeing one...
Quite to the contrary, the increased value arises from the fascination. Error coins are rare, compared to normal strikes. Some collectors view errors as mere oddities, or as coins that are markedly imperfect, and therefore should not be included in their collections. Others, though, view them as attractive and collectible.
Almost every collectible item has a small to medium following of error collectors. Coins, stamps, toy cars, action figures, trading cards, and more.
I love my laminated wheat cents, the great think about laminated coins is that no 2 are ever ever exactly alike. One of a kinds, you can't get any rarer, 1 is a lonly number.
True some increased value arises from collector's fascination of the error which in turn the increased value captures tha fascination of additional collectors which in turn increases the value even more.
Supply and demand plus, Supply and demand plus availability, popularity, value, eye appeal, minting process gone bad, unique, fascinating, unusual, different, few available copies, education, (by looking at an error we learn what was supposed to be and how it's done correctly, and not), I could go on and on for pages but Carl would get after me but one more thing, the thing that's generally left out when speaking of major Mint Errors is: Just how good they (the Mint) is at not letting out more and making billions of almost perfect products - that is truly amazing!!!
Some things to keep in mind though, for those who may be searching out genuine error coins on eBay , for example are: Some error coins of other countries like India, for example are incredibly plentiful and one has to wonder if they are intentionally made to be marketed in quantity. They are not rare at all. Other errors have even been certified but they are "intentionally manufactured". There is a fairly famous phony error where Panamanian 1/2 Balboa coins are struck over older kennedy half dollars where the combinations of dates are impossible under any circumstances. There are 1982 1/2 Balboas struck over 1971 Kennedys. It's an impossible scenario under the then existing circumstances. It turns out that they were illegally being Manufactured in Panama with stolen dies. What is sad is that ANACS slabbed many of these without thought as to the way they could or more importantly couldn't have been made. There is much more than meets the eye with respect to error coins. Especially well known by some but unknown by others are all the "fake" error coins found on eBay. We see damaged coins all the time being sold as errors. A word of caution , particularly with error coins is to know a "garage job" from a legitimate error. Thanks, Bill
Saying "an error is an error" is akin to saying "a coin is just a coin". There are hundreds of basic error types, hundreds of subtypes, and numerous effects associated with these errors. The number of potential 2-error combinations is around half-a-million. Each error has a history behind it as each is caused by a particular mishap during a particular stage of the minting process. It takes a tremendous amount of knowledge and analytical skill to figure out what occurred in each case. Any many mysteries remain. It makes collecting ordinary coins seem dull by comparison.
I like Mike's point. Each error coin provides us with a puzzle that must be solved. Sometimes the solution is easier than others. It is Fun to study a coin and determine just how the minting process went haywire
Thanks for your replies. I think I have a grip on this now..and it caused me to go through my US coins and have a second look. Thanks.
