Best Of

Oh, a wondrous bird is the pelican!
His beak holds more than his belican.
He takes in his beak
Food enough for a week.
But I'll be darned if I know how the helican.

There once was a dealer named Gladys
Her Morgan’s cheeks were fattest
Said, “My exomunia
Is enough to ruin ya”
I said, “Yeah? I’m new to the practice”

Here are a few numismatic limericks with different flavors:

1. The Collector’s Lament

There once was a Mint with great nerve,
Whose prices continued to swerve.
They said with a grin,
“Collectors will spin—
And pay what the markets deserve.”

2. Secondary Market Edition

A collector declared with delight,
“These proof sets are climbing in flight!”
The Mint looked around,
Raised prices profound—
And said, “Why should dealers do right?”

3. The Slab Collector

A coin in a plasticized shell
Was purchased for values that swell.
But once grades declined,
The owner did find—
His “investment” was numismatical hell.

4. Mint Strategy

The Mint raised its prices one year,
Collectors all shouted in fear.
Yet sales stayed alive,
Enough did survive—
So the pricing committee drank beer.

5. Slightly More Literary

A numismatist careful and wise
Watched premiums suddenly rise.
He muttered, “Take heed—
This market has greed…”
Then bought one more set “for supplies.”

6. For the Long-Time Collector

There once was a hobby of joy,
Where folders gave thrills to each boy.
Now subscriptions and gold
Leave collectors grown old—
And the Mint chasing profit, oh boy.

This image tells me that the anomaly is raised when I look at the angle of approach of the light to the south, vs the shadowing seen to the north, as seen on the nearby letters.
.

@Goob said:

@jmlanzaf said:

@Goob said:
They must be basing it off the reverse. Here’s one I sent to ANACS a while ago that got VG10.

Yeah. I would never buy or sell that as a VG. But the grading services have diluted the traditional grading standards.

To be fair it is a little nicer in-hand, but I agree it seems a little iffy for being close to Fine.

The reverse definitely carries the grade, might be borderline-fine (photo does not do it justice) but I’m surprised the obverse didn’t make it tank! I will also say though, the eye appeal is pretty good for being a lower grade.

By the old standards, the reverse would barely be VG. And the reverse counts for less. The standards have been diluted. I mean, that coin is a decent Good, by the original standards. And it is VGish by the TPG standards. The issue was the standards, not the coin.

Based on the images provided, I’d say that’s A fairly decent, fairly recent 2026 addition - “Crust-Zilla” $50 Assay Slug.😉
It’s also as, if not more original looking, than any circulated example I’ve seen. It’s a “Wowza” coin.

@Kurisu said:
The OP confirmed it's raised.
Seems too "neat" to be a gouge.
Couldn't be a dropped bit of letter, correct?
Clearly not a strike through.
I'm baffled and now I really want to know what this anomaly is...

Original post https://www.reddit.com/r/coinerrors/comments/1tjxihs/error_on_a_1971s_proof_nickel_retained/

EDIT: it appears to be a known variety.

If it's raised then it can't be a dropped letter, since a dropped letter would be struck into the coin.

However...I'm going to be a contrarian and suggest that the Reddit poster is incorrect, and that the anomaly is in fact incuse, in which case it is some sort of scrap, including possibly a dropped letter fragment.

Look at this photo. There is light reflection on both sides of the anomaly. On the other letters, there is only light reflection on the top side of the letters.

The light reflection underneath the anomaly would not be possible if it was raised.

It seems impossible that someone actually holding the coin could be mistaken about whether a feature is raised or incuse, but just a few weeks ago here on the Forum a poster insisted for days that the ampersand that appeared on both sides of his cent were raised but he finally conceded that he figured out that they were incused.

@MsMorrisine said:
it was a joke, thus Big Grin. always sunny in so cal

Yeah, everything is great. The quakes created the mudslides which put out the fires.

jom

There once was a man named Russ,
Who never put up a fuss,
His intentions were clear,
Accented Hair he did endear,
His knowledge bestowed upon us.