I bought $16 worth of rolled pennies from my daughter that she had stowed under her bed. In these rolls were about 70 of the 1983 D RPM. Half look like they have never been out in circulation. While checking out the net I have noticed that these various RPM's go for a little bit of money considering these are only pennies. Why is it they go for what they do since there seems to be so many of these floating around? Don't make sense to me.
RPM's and double dies are NOT a common occurance. They are too few and far between. When a "major" error gets discovered, the numismatic community goes crazy (like the extra leaf Wisconsin quarter or the 1995 DDO cent.) Collectors rush to pick these up and the values take off, only in some cases to fall quickly. Look at the Red Book values (as a guide) of 2005 "Wide A.M." Lincolns compared to 2006. 2005 placed values at $30. Now it is $5 in MS65 condition for the 2006 edition. Most errors get destroyed before the leave the mint. They are pretty picky when it comes to quality control and with this day and age of automated presses, errors don't come as much as they did in the past. Also, the more visable the error, the more valuable. (i.e., 1955 and 1972 DDO's). You can see these with the naked eye! Now I am familiar with the 1983-P Double Die Reverse, but can't say I heard of any 1983-D (Denver mint) double dies. There are reports of one minor repunched Denver mint mark floating about as this was because the mint changed mintmark punches during production. But, I can't put a value on it. Again, some errors may be minor as some people like to collect them. For me? If I can't see them under 3X power, it doesn't float my boat and I pass on them. But, if I can clearly see the double die, then I am interested.
