I have found a coin that is very similar to the one offered for sale here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/ISRAEL-1987...681?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item415ab313c1 Here is another seller: http://www.ebay.com/itm/ISRAEL-10-A...207?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f15fe0b3f Upon research, I found on some small old website that the entire year 1988 got this internal "protrusion" circle near the edge, its quite visible right away when compared to any other year. I don't know if all 10 agorot coins from 1988 got this issue. I would appreciate any additional information regarding this variety (or is it an error after all?). On another website I saw a photo of 1 and 5 agorot with same issue, does it mean 1, 5 and 10 coins got altered dies for this year? How come Krause does not mention this? What should be the value? Looks like there is no interest for $25 or $1, according to 2 eBay lots above. What is the correct name for this issue? Would appreciate any information.
Don't waste your time on these. I see this kind of error a lot on this issue in foreign junk bins. Here's my reasons for not purchasing this coin (not saying you want to): 1) The coins are in poor condition. If they were in fact really rare, there would be documentation on them and they would have been hoarded in XF to BU condition. 2) Both sellers don't allow for close ups of the images. 3) The fact that they mention "Rare" or "Overstuck" in their listings without providing more info is questionable. Who says they are rare? Overstuck doesn't mean it's worth anymore than a normal one. 4) Shipping charges are outrageous. 5) Neither seller seems to be knowledgeable in coin attribution. They just seem to be passing along whatever comes across their desks. 6) The huge variance in prices means neither seller actually knows what they're worth. 7) A good purchase of this coin would be an XF (excellent patina) to UNC @ $.49 to $1.99 with Free Shipping or up to $2.99 shipping.
Are you saying you see a lot of 1988 10 agorot coins in foreign junk bins, and these coins got this issue? Have you seen this coin without the issue? Yeah, as I said, I found one already, no point buying it. I pasted 2 eBay links to show the coin and the issue and save the time by not making a photo myself. The one I got is about XF45. I would still like to know how to attribute the issue (error or variety), did it happen to all 1988 coins or just some, is this particular coin considered rare.
Well it is a mint error that has somewhat become a variety. It depends on how you look at it. The two types, if you will, coexist and were circulated at the same time. This would indicate that since the error is so slight and the Israeli Mint decided it was ok to circulate the coin then it has gone from mint error to a variety type. There are two years that I know of, 1987 and 1988 for the 1, 5 & 10 Agorot in this series. As far as I know there are no later dates that have this. It being "Rare" is by opinion only, but there are many Israeli coin errors. Most have not become varieties. Here's a link to some: http://israelerrorcoins.tripod.com/misc/index.html I enjoy collecting Israeli coins and have nearly all the coins in this series including the error/variety types. I simply call it an error, but you may choose otherwise. Joe
