Theres a few errors that Im reading about and have that Im clueless about. 1st ...What is a partial collar? Can somebody please explain in laymans terms? I actually have one graded and cannot tell what it is? 2nd...Double dyes?? on modern coins,particulary dollar coins..Is there a certain spot you have to look for them? I read to look for markings toward the middle of the coin? 3rd..Whats your favorite errors to look for these day? Attainable ones
To understand error coins and how they occur you must first understand how dies and coins are made. There are plenty of sources (books, on-line, etc.) that explain the minting process. 1- Partial Collar - A Partial Collar error occurs when a planchet is only partially in the collar when the coin is struck. Portions of the edge will be struck by the collar and the remainder will not be struck by the collar. One type of Partial Collar is the Railroad Rim which occurs when the planchet drops into the collar but not all the way down into the collar. When the dies strike the coin the portion of the planchet (now a coin) that was in the collar (usually the side struck by the anvil die) will have reeding or a smooth edge (depending on the coin) while the portion of the planchet (now a coin) that was outside the collar will have expanded out (because there was no collar there to prevent the metal from expanding outward). The resulting coin will have an edge that looks like a rim on a railroad car. Another type of Partial Collar is a Tilted Collar. This occurs when the collar is tilted when the coin is struck. The edge along one side of the coin will be struck by the collar while the other side will expand outward. 2- Doubled Dies (Not Double Dyes) - Coins are struck by dies. (Dye is a substance used to color materials.) A DoubleD Die (notice the D at the end of Doubled) occurs during the hubbing process. Again you need to understand the minting process to understand how DoubleD Dies are made.) Just in the last couple of decades the Mint went to a single-squeeze hubbing process. Prior to that it took multiple squeezes to impart the image from the Master Hub to a Master Die, from a Master Die to a Working Hub, and from a Working Hub to a Working Die. When metal is worked it becomes hardened. We call that 'work hardening'. When a die or hub is made it becomes work hardened and must be annealed (softened) before the next hubbing (squeeze). Suppose a Working Die is being made. After the die is annealed the die and the Working Hub must be placed back in the press for the next hubbing. If the hub and the die are not precisely aligned the next hubbing can cause doubling on the Working Die. (There are other ways doubling can occur.) So the Working Die will be doubled, hence the name 'DoubleD Die'. Depending on the type of doubling the best place to look for doubling is along the outer periphery of the coin; i.e., the further from the center of the coin the further the spread. With the modern single-squeeze hubbing process the doubling tends to occur nearer the center of the coin. This is because the hub and die may "kiss" as they are aligned in the press. Because the die is cone-shaped the place where the contact is made will be near the center of the die. (Again, you must understand how dies are made to understand this concept.) 3- Error coins have gotten much harder to find. Much fewer errors make it out of the Mint since about 2003. (I should say much fewer errors make it out of the coin-rolling contractor's facility since about 2003.) Oversize coins (e.g., broadstrikes) that don't make it through the coin-counting machines or the rolling machines are sent back to the Mint to be melted. Your best luck now is to look for clips, missing clad layers, etc. that will make it through those processes. Hope this helps.
good answers hobo! there is no real way to explain it in laymen terms. you really have to take the time and learn the coin minting process. its actually pretty fascinating, if you enjoy coin collecting its a must read, because its how our collections are made! i can give you a little more info on your 3rd question. i have been through probably a few thousand dollars in cents looking for errors and varieties, still have not found one. a lot have been searched and pulled from circulation, they are still out there but are getting harder to find by the day. really looking for a WAM or CAM, the 1995 DDO, and '88 with '89 reverse. good luck and read up on the minting process, you won't regret it!
As a relatively new coin enthusiast , I have had more success finding "Varieties" than I have finding "Errors". I have found 2 Coneca top 100 list RPM's from circulation so far. RPM stands for re-punched mint mark. The 2 varieties I would like to find next would be the 1970-S small date Lincoln Cent & the 1960 D over D , Large over small date Lincoln Cent.
