Today I found this in my incessant roll-hunting > a 2008-P AZ Quarter with a Rev die break below the Prickly Pear Cactus at the base of the Saguaro (I'm from AZ so I know the names). It creates a new paddle or split paddle which covers some of the designer initials (the last close-up is of a normal coin, for comparison). A known error, but no additional die break above the date. The coin is otherwise in pretty decent shape. So, it this just a collectable anomaly, or does it have any significant extra value?
Ditto. But to each his own. It's all still just pocket change to me, but if folks like looking for microscopic errors and/or varieties, more power to 'em. I just don't have the eyesight for it, let alone any interest. But I suppose there's not a lot of downside risk or need for a big investment if you're cherrypicking stuff from circulation. It's all good. Yes, nice pictures.
I don't normally search for errors or DDs, but I have taken note of known errors > leaky bucket on Homestead, doubled trees on Minnesota, extra leaves on Wisconsin, pooping horse on Nevada, In God We Rust on Kansas, and this on Arizona. I do lots of coin roll hunting, and I only initially and quickly view all coins with a 2x magnifier (73 y.o. eyes), but occasionally pull out the 5x to verify. For the pictures I use a Plugable Digital Microscope (cited elsewhere on this site) on a homemade stand. For most shots I use a poor man's adaptation of Dennis Richard's setup to give even, soft lighting from directly above, shooting through a piece of glass which is at a 45 degree angle between the camera and object. But no room for that on the extreme closeups - there was only about a sixteenth of an inch between the Plugable's shroud and the coin. And the only software I use is the barebones photo editing built into Windows. Total investment less than $50.
I sent three error coins to the Salt Lake City show this weekend by way of our local numismatist. I too do not usually dabble in error coins but these are obvious and unusual. As paddyman, mountain man, and others have previously stated, most errors can be explained away and are of little value. When in doubt ask the pros. Thanks for the post and good luck.
I've heard of this before in the same place, at the base of the cactus. Not a big deal to me but others may like it.
As @paddyman98 stated, a minor break and to me, NAV. Like many here, I really don't pay attention to errors or varieties that require a lot of magnification.
the kids are calling it "extra cactus leaf" on the "bay". it's a die chip that partially or wholly obscures the designer initials. they sell from $0.50-$2.00. not much more than that. it's really common, the dies chipped there a lot. I sent back dozens to the bank searching Ws last year, also the "snow on roof" homestead, These die chips don't interest me much.
