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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;davidh, post: 521101, member: 15062&quot;]We all know that opinions are like *** holes - everyone has one and they all stink.&nbsp; I don&#039;t care to be drawn into an argument or discussion of the nuances of meanings or of how my opinions may differ from others&#039;.&nbsp; Everyone is entitled to their own opinion; here&#039;s mine.</p><p><br /></p><p>Every coin has a designer who sets out what the final product should look like.&nbsp; This design is often refined to fit the requirements of the minting processes, but at some point a final design is designated for production.</p><p><br /></p><p>If, at <u>any</u> step in the production, something happens that results in the designer&#039;s design not being faithfully executed, then the resultant coin is an error.&nbsp; Whether there are one, or one hundred or one hundred thousand coins produced with the same characteristics are produced is immaterial in their designation of being errors.&nbsp; Thus, the plain 22D Cent (whether it resulted from a filled die or an over polished die is immaterial - it wasn&#039;t produced as designed) is an error, as are the 55DD Cent and the 42/41 Dime produced from improperly prepared dies.&nbsp; Also errors are any coins produced with dies polished, or filled with a foreign substance (grease) to the extent that any design details have been lost or altered.</p><p><br /></p><p>Varieties are a different animal that rarely exist in modern coinage newer than 30 years old.&nbsp; Back when dies were produced by hand, it was common for small details to vary by small degrees.&nbsp; This was not done to change the designer&#039;s intentions but simply happened because it&#039;s impossible for two separately produced dies to be identical.&nbsp; Thus, elements such as lettering, stars or numbers stamped by hand can show variations and are considered varieties if they are significant enough.&nbsp; The only major &quot;modern&quot; varieties that I can think of offhand (I know there must be many more) are the large and small dated cents and the Eisenhower Dollars with lettering and globe representation differences.&nbsp; These weren&#039;t done to change the designer&#039;s intentions, but rather for production reasons or to enhance the design.&nbsp; Another modern variety would be the business strike cents struck with reverse dies intended for proof coins, and proof coins struck with business strike dies.&nbsp; Although it was an error to use the incorrect dies, it didn&#039;t change the intended design of the coin and they are therefore varieties.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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