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Education: Error Vs. Variety

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spru's Avatar
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 Posted 04/08/2017  03:02 am Show Profile   Check spru's eBay Listings Bookmark this topic Add spru to your friends list Get a Link to this Message Number of Subscribers
I've run into this conundrum quite a few times and recently found the best explanation for me. I'm hoping this may help others to distinguish the two. It comes from this topic:

http://goccf.com/t/50147

The quote is from the member coppercoins (no longer active) and is the most concise and well-worded definition that I've found yet:


Quote:
Die varieties are created on the die before the die is placed into use. They are a part of the initial design on a single die used to mint coins. The design imperfection (usually doubling) transfers to every coin minted by that die.

Errors occur either in the way the planchets were made (planchet errors), as a mistake of the striking process (striking errors), or something that develops on the die during use (die errors). Planchet and striking errors are generally a single coin to single coin occurrence - meaning that an error could occur between strikes of two completely normal coins. Die errors, because of their nature (on the die), start on a single coin somewhere during the life of the die and often progress in size and severity as the die is used, but they always leave their mark on every coin minted after the error occurs.

The biggest difference and the big question to ask in determining whether a flaw is considered a die variety or an error is to figure out whether what you are seeing would have been on the die when it was placed into use.

Could that die have minted completely normal coins? If so, then it's an error.

Or is the anomaly something that was on the die when it was first hung on the press to mint coins -- meaning there's no chance that die minted completely normal coins? If so, then it's a die variety.



I'm hoping this may help others as it helped me. There is so much to learn!

In Memory of Crazyb0 12-26-1951 to 7-27-2020
In Memory of Tootallious 3-31-1964 to 4-15-2020
In Memory of T-BOP 10-12-1949 to 1-19-2024
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John1's Avatar
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 Posted 04/08/2017  05:09 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add John1 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Coppercoins retired from the hobby a few years ago.
John1
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Potbellypub's Avatar
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 Posted 04/08/2017  10:30 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Potbellypub to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Makes for a good thought process when looking at a coin. Someone was asking this question on here a few weeks ago. Hopefully they will see this. Thanks spruette!
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cwb's Avatar
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 Posted 04/08/2017  11:39 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add cwb to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
We also have errors that don't have anything to do with the dies, such as the 1944 Steel cents or the 1983 95% Copper cents.

We have another type of transitional error that is caused from using the incorrect dies, but the dies themselves were fine. An example is the 1988 Lincoln Cent RVD-006. These are called transitional errors, but there is nothing visibly wrong with the coin. All coins struck with these dies are exactly the same, like a variety.

To add to the confusion, we have examples that started out as errors, but are considered varieties such as the 1922 plain cents. Some of these are believed to be the result of over polished dies, but other die pairs are thought to be from Grease Filled Dies.
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Halo1st's Avatar
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 Posted 04/08/2017  12:47 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Halo1st to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
One of the best discussion found in the archives on this subject matter. See below. Many A few more experts weighed in so recommend reading through the whole thing. Thanks, Doug.

http://goccf.com/t/83936
Edited by Halo1st
04/08/2017 1:51 pm
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jbuck's Avatar
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 Posted 04/08/2017  6:06 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add jbuck to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
One of the best discussion found in the archives on this subject matter. See below. Many A few more experts weighed in so recommend reading through the whole thing. Thanks, Doug.

http://goccf.com/t/83936
I agree. This reply specifically...

http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/...83936#687455

Please note how there is also a distinction between 'type' and 'variety' that many seem to misunderstand.
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spru's Avatar
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 Posted 04/08/2017  11:38 pm  Show Profile   Check spru's eBay Listings Bookmark this reply Add spru to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Thanks for the input everyone! I guess for some reason coppercoins had a way of wording it that I completely understand. Things are definitely coming into focus.
In Memory of Crazyb0 12-26-1951 to 7-27-2020
In Memory of Tootallious 3-31-1964 to 4-15-2020
In Memory of T-BOP 10-12-1949 to 1-19-2024
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