The Greatest Unintentional Mint Varieties
Zoins
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What are the most famous, most exciting, and most desired of the Mint's unintentional released varieties.
These are exciting coins that can be found in change.
The following are ones that stand out for me.
1955 DDO Cent
The Mint identified these errors, but too late as they had already shipped many of them!
2000-P Cheerios Dollar
These were originally shipped in Cheerios cereal boxes but weren't identified until many years later, after many had been spent.
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This one comes immediately to mind. It makes big news whenever one is found.
1913 Liberty Nickels?
The handful of coins where the mint marks have been left off, 1982 no P dimes, various no S proof coins, etc.
The biggest one I think of might be the 1937D 3-legged buffalo though.
God knows how many millions of no mint mark coins are out there. Most years, you would never have known.
Why is the Buffalo bigger than the 1969-S DDO or the 1975-S no S?
It's much more famous. My grandmother played a card game called Pokeno that used nickels with a group of half a dozen other ladies 60 years ago. Even those ladies knew to keep an eye out for the "3 legged" nickel.
More famous is different than "bigger". And you'd have to throw the 55 DDO in with the 3-legged as "famous".
"Bigger" and "Biggest" are ambiguous and is an invitation to more discussion, which of course is a good thing
I wouldn't think of those as unintentional
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Unintentional as in they didn't think of it the way we do today but not an error or unplanned.... strawberry leaf large cent.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Well, they were unintentional from the Mint's standpoint since there is no record of them ever having been struck.
Most famous case of "shenanigans". 1958 DDO would be another case of probable shenanigans.
If anyone says shenanigans one more time ...
1943 copper cent and 1944 steel cents would be up there on my list of unintentional coins that may have been totally accidental.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
https://www.silvertowne.com/p-24640-silvertowne-now-in-possession-of-a-very-rare-wartime-nickel-known-as-the-frith-nickel.aspx
The Frith 1942-S Nickel nickel. The 1942-s's were all supposed to be of the silver composition with a big mm above Monticello. This one has the s to right as in pre- and post-war years. I think it is still the only one known.
Agree this is a popular one and one to hunt for!
Here's one from Gerald Forsythe:
1937-D Buffalo Nickel - 3 Legs - FS-901 - PCGS MS66+ POP 3/0 - Gerald Forsythe Specimen
The 1918/7-D nickel, 1918/7-S quarter and 1942/1 and 1942/1-D dimes come to mind.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Were varieties like that unintentional? Or was it a standard part of reusing old dies?
If it were standard practice during the 20th century we would be seeing a lot of other overdates. These overdate coins have one thing in common---they were made during the early years of WWI and WWII when many mint employees went off to war and their jobs were backfilled with employees new to the job.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
My wife and I were just talking about Pokeno the other night. I used to play this with my Mother all the time😂🤣
Makes sense. Thanks!
The 1983 copper cent is another good one.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Did someone already mention the 1943 copper cent? Would this be considered an off-planchet mint error or a variety or both?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I did further up. That’s what got me thinking of the 1983 cent. It’s definitely an error but it’s also a kind of type.
Maybe the original sensation of large and small date 1960 cents would qualify. They originally denied any difference in styling but had to admit it when presented with facts. Insane prices as well when first discovered.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
I love multi-Mint Over Mint Marks The 1875 S/CC being the king IMHO
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
What about the Sac. Washington mules ?
I really want one of those, but one collector bought up the majority of all known examples.
My eBay Store | My Registry Profile
IIRC upwards of 60 K
I sure wish I still had the two '55 DDO's I had a kid.... They were both bright red.... My Mom used to say they made her dizzy when looking at the date.... Disappeared sometime after I joined the Navy.
Cheers, RickO