Has anyone else mistaken a coin to be an error coin when it wasn't? If so, please post what you have so we can all learn. I've certainly had more than the two I am showing, but I just thought I would share a couple of mine. When I find my other photos, I'll share those too. One that I can't find photos of is a dime that was missing its clad layer. After I purchased it, I found out it was simply removed by acid. Whoops! I found a wheat cent in change that I was convinced had gold stamped onto the coin; turns out it was just acid that had eaten away some of the coin. I was going through a bunch of wheat cents and found one that was impossibly small. I thought it was accidentally on a wrong planchet or something only to find it was dipped in acid until it was small enough to fit in a dime slot and fool old vending machines. I actually think it's more cool than just a random wheat cent I could find. I bought and 1864 cent out of curiosity on ebay when the poor photos didn't explain why it had a smooth side but was listed as an error. It turns out it was a poorly done love token and didn't bother me so much. Please share yours!
I'll tell you about one that fooled me. About 30 years back I was always looking at every Flying Eagle cent, I could find. At a show I ran into one in a cardboard 2X2. The lighting was bad but I could see doubling on the date. I paid a few dollars for it and took it home. The doubling was actually just an imprint on the film of the 2X2. Lesson learned. Error coins are a crazy part of this hobby. None of us will be right all the time but it's really fun.
It sure did to me as well until I asked my online coin club (WINS) and a few members let me know how they are washed down with acid to become dime size to fit old vending machines. It certainly makes sense and that alloy is consistent with wheat cents from that time.
