Question On Why So Many People Think That Error Coins Are All Valuable?

Generally, I would prefer to find a variety, rather than an error. I find more errors than varieties.

Misinformation and ignorance is a big part of this.

It's the thrill of the hunt! Not so much the numismatic value, but just to find it and identify what you have found!

When I started collecting as a kid (in the late 1960s) error coins in the UK were just considered curiosities. I seem to remember reading an article in a coin magazine that stated that whereas stamp collectors prefer errors, coin collectors always prefer coins that are perfectly struck. In the late 1970s I remember reading a letter in a French coin magazine where someone had sent in a photo of a nicely double-struck coin, and the magazine editor said that it actually made the coin worth less than a well-struck specimen! I agree with Greasy Fingers that YouTube and the Internet have had a big influence in recent years, and not always for the best... I often see British 'error' £1 and £2 coins on ebay with 'the edge lettering upside down'... it can be either way up!

I was the only bidder on this clipped flan 2p when it was posted on ebay!

I personally collect error variations just for the thrill of finding them. I never plan to make a dime from them, just to see how many I can accumulate. I also do not find much interest is Post 82 cents. I failed to mention I only look for variations of Lincoln One Cent Coins.

Dan

That pretty much sums it up!

After you've searched a lot of coins, then you start to see that some 'so called error' coins are common. Die breakdown as the die ages. The dies are intended to do one job. To strike coins. All wear out and are eventually retired. So to me getting excited about a die crack, chip, break and other common events, you realize that when these happen in the LDS die state and the die is continued to be used till retirement, a large number of the so called errors, make up a large percentage of the coins.


It is often when a Cud develops, then interest should be shown.

When a die shows a rim to rim crack all the way across a coin, they are just a few of these.


When a die splits, there will only be a few of these as these dies are often retired earlier, and less of these errors are out there.



How often does a die split off and is struck into a coin?

Once. There will be several Cuds struck with this die. But it is often a retirement issue.

Thus cracks, chips, even some breaks will not retire a die. A die can strike sever hundred thousand more coins before retirement. So some die event coins will be real interesting to new collectors, but seasoned collectors will shun them until they get into a die event worthy of notice.

One really common thing that is traditionally considered an error is the die clash; a pair of clashed dies could continue to strike coins for a long time afterwards, sometimes together, sometimes separately.

I estimated at one point (having manually checked several hundred examples) that among post-2007 Russian 10 kopek coins from the Moscow mint about 10-15 percent had a visible die clash; supposedly in some 19th century US issues (3 cent nickels, IIRC?) die clashes were so common that now it's the coins without the clash that are worth more.