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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;jallengomez, post: 2060300, member: 19748&quot;]I don&#039;t disparage anyone from collecting what they like. I always hear that die cracks are more common than varieties, and they probably are, but I&#039;ve never seen the math. The problem is that everyone who makes this statement looks at die cracks as generic, whereas varieties are treated as specific occurrences. Keep in mind that my experience is primarily with the Lincoln Cent, but if one were to use the term &quot;variety&quot; as a generic term and say that, &quot;Varieties are a common occurrence&quot; it could be argued that the statement is true. When most people think of varieties, they think of the big ones: the 1955 DDO, 1969S DDO, et al. When one considers the category of <i><b>all</b></i> varieties, they become rather common indeed. Think of the vast number of minor RPMs, the vast number of class 9 doubled dies, and even in the early sixties, the large numbers of class 2 DDRs. In the 1950s, both die cracks and varieties were fairly common. In the 1960s I would say that with the preponderance of varieties for the early &#039;60s that varieties were more common. In the 1970s both were rather scarce. In the 1980s die cracks ruled the day. In the 1990s we began to see more equal numbers, and in the 2000s I would say that class 9 varieties ruled the day. One also has to consider that the number of coins struck by a doubled die will show the variety throughout the life of the die, whereas die cracks tend to develop in the mid to late die stages and therefore it could be argued that on average only about 1/2 to 1/4 of the coins struck by a given die<i>(which develops a die crack)</i> will show a crack. It&#039;s an interesting question that never really gets fair treatment.</p><p><br /></p><p>And for the record, this is all said by someone who collects varieties. I still respect my fellow numismatists who collect die breaks and cracks.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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