An Irish Error?

HI,

I think error coins are ones where there is an obvious mistake made in the process - such as a mis aligned die or a brockage etc. That is a pretty small thing to warrent being "an error" coin.

I can't really see anyone paying a premium for it - though, in general, there seems to be a lot less people interested in errors etc, on this side of the Atlantic than there is in the US

"Blobs" like this typically have two causes: corrosion in the underlying metal causes a raised "bump" on the surface. This is most common on plated coins, and the Irish 1p of 1980 was solid bronze, not plated, so it should be less susceptible to this kind of damage. I only mention it because this coin does have some odd corrosion happening, on the other side, but I don't think it's a probable explanation in this case.

The second cause, considered more a "variety" than an "error", is a die chip, or " Cud" as they are called here in Australia (In America, die chips are only called " Cuds" when they touch the rim of the coin). Basically, a tiny piece breaks off or is knocked off the die, creating a hole in the die and corresponding raised lump in any coins subsequently struck from that die.

Variety-hunters usually prefer to find such things themselves, rather than pay big bucks for specimens found by someone else. Until and unless someone markets these things as "lumpy-1 pennies" and persuades a catalogue-maker to include them in an official list of varieties, they're not going to attract much if any premium.