for inflated prices , the lines are blurred between real error coins and defects etc and nice premiums are being paid for both.
Quote:Many people have emailed about possible error coins that they have found in circulation. Discovering an error coin can be a rewarding experience and it may often result in a nice profit. Error coins recognized by the American Numismatic Association are those that are legitimate mint processing errors and they come in several forms. The best place to obtain information about coin errors is to puchase a coin guide.
Modern Day Minting Process
Modern day minting starts with a strip of metal that has been specifically produced for the manufacturing of coins. Each sheet is fabricated to the tolerances provided by the mint. The process begins with taking a strip of metal and then blanking out coins in a press. The blank coins are known as planchets. One mint error is when the blank planchet escapes the coining process and ends up in a mint bag of coins.
A defective planchet is caused from impurities in the metal itself that is used to make a coin. The surface of the coin will appear ragged and often times the inner metal may show such as the clad in a dime or a quarter. A lamination error occurs when the surface of the coin looks like it is peeling off. A lamination error is caused by impurities in the metal used in the blanking process or by some debris that was in the stamping dies. A split or broken planchet occurs when there is a line on the coin which is actually a crack. Anotherl mint processing error is caused from the blanking process where a piece of the blank is missing. When a piece of the blank is missing the coin is called a clipped planchet. Clipped planchets come in several forms; curved clips, ragged clips, and a host of others; all having missing metal.
Minting Errors
If a planchet is too thick it will cause some of the obverse or reverse detail to be missing or lightly stamped. In addition to thick planchet errors there are errors where a coin is minted on the incorrect planchet. These errors occur when stock from one coin batch is mixed with another. There have been some issues with the
State Quarters being minted on dollar stock. These coins are rare in circulation since most of them are caught by banks and coin dealers before they get out into circulation.
Die errors are another kind of error that in recent times has been slowed by the upgrading of the mint dies and the re-polishing of the dies on a frequent basis. Some mint errors are caused by the coin being stamped out of the collar. The coins that are minted out of the collar are larger than a normal coin because the metal expands with out a device holding the coins circumference. Collectors call these coins broad struck. In addition coins could actually be double struck in the press.
Double dies are another type of mint error. These types of errors are extremely rare and as evidence of this is the low frequency of coins that are notably double die errors. The most famous double die error remains the 1955
Lincoln Cent.
Other types of minting errors are in the form of die cracks which leave a rough line across the path of the die break on the surface of the coins. The minting of the coin will leave a ridge of metal across the surface of the coin. There are also die breaks that cause indentations in the coin.
Double mint marks are caused by re-punching a die inaccurately causing a double mint mark or a dual mint mark on a coin. These errors are widely known as RPM's.
An OMM or over mint mark is when a die has been uncleanly changed from one mint mark to another. Coins minted in with these dies appear to have one mint mark stamped over another such as S over D.
Another type of error that is worth noting is the rotated coin error. These coins are partially rotated from the natural rotating of 180 degrees. This type of error should not happen with modern day coinage since the mint stamps both the obverse and reverse at the same time.
I have not named all of the possible die errors, but I have named the most popular.
Posted 08/13/2015 6:06 pm
