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State Quarter Errors?

Hi,

I see a lot of eBayers hawking the State Quarter mint bags stating that there might be "valuable errors" inside. Are there many known errors for this series? Where would someone find out about these errors? Is it possible that such a newly minted coin could appreciate in value rapidly due to an error? Is there that much of a demand for SQs with errors?

Thanks in advance,
Rob
"If at first you don't succeed, perhaps parachuting isn't for you."

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    BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,516 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Early on in the series there were lots of state quarter errors. This probably had something to do with the very high mintages and a lax attitude on the part of the mint system. Despite the large numbers the coins were popular and were selling for very strong prices. (several hundred dollars each.)

    Then, a scandal broke out in which it was shown that some mint employees were stealing coins and making intentional errors. The mint really clamped down, and the number of errors has dropped to near zero.

    If these people are selling bags of 2002, 2003, or 2004 quarters and claiming that you will have a good chance of finding some errors, it's hog wash. There virtually none of these error coins to be found in recent mint bags.
    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
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    DAMDAM Posts: 2,410 ✭✭
    I bought this about 18 months ago. Not a big error collector, but thought it was neat.

    This coin is Triple Struck...

    image


    Dan
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    BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,516 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Yes, it's VERY neat!

    But you will notice that it was minted in 2000, which was a time when such things could get out of the mint. Today virtually all of them get stopped at the door....
    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
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    On this same topic, I found a New York state quarter the other day with bright copper on the reverse and thought that it looked interesting. So I looked up what kind of errors are common on these coins and there is one "clad layer missing before strike" Are these rare or are they fairly common?
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    cladkingcladking Posts: 28,377 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Calling it rare would be overstating the case but these are not made in very large numbers.
    Even when lots of errors were leaving the mint these would sell for up to $100. Now with the
    extremely low error rates these sell for much more on the later dates. The NY was minted
    right on the cusp and you'd need an error expert to get a good idea of value.
    Tempus fugit.
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    Nice Quarters
    I never seen one like that.
    Young Numismatist that collects: Morgan Dollars, SAE, Proof Sets, and Liberty Nickels.
    I also love to go through rolls to find coins.
    BST
    image
    MySlabbedCoins
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    I came across someone selling state errors on eBay the other night. The way the description was he had a bunch, but wasn't guaranteeing which state you would get. It was a dutch auction.


    Jerry
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    Conder101Conder101 Posts: 10,536


    << <i>I see a lot of eBayers hawking the State Quarter mint bags stating that there might be "valuable errors" inside. >>


    Well he is right, there might be. There also might be nothing but washers inside because someone opened it replaced the quarters and resealed it. Neither of these possiblities are very likely and the possibility of the washer is probably higher than that of the errors. But remember these are only possibilities and anything that is not impossible could conceivably happen. The most likely possiblity though, approaching almost absolute certainty, is that the bag will contain normal everyday slightly beat up state quarters. And you won't know which until you open the bag. BUT!! if you open the bag and you have average quarters they are now worth just face value and any premium you paid for the bag is lost.

    These state quarter bags aren't really made for collecting or for searching. They are made for hyping and selling on ebay. Constantly looking for the next "greater fool". At one time the $25 DE P bags were close to $1000 apiece on ebay. At that price no one in their right mind was ever going to open them. Not when doing so meant a 99.999999% chance of turning their thousand dollar purchase into $25 worth of quarters.
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    Welcom Rob ,Thanks for bringing this question up.If you want to get a sense of what State Quarter Errors are bringing these days check out Fred Weinberg's site.LinkyAuction prices on the other hand, can get out of control when uninformed beginners overbid on minor errors like filled die errors.With the Billions and Billions being struck there are quite a large amount of them out there.

    (Dan that is a sweeet piece,very nice! :coolimageLooks like it may have been struck 4 times, look at the MM. it appears doubleed an the the 2 off center on top of it.Fred are you out there?what do you think?

    You could PM(Private Message) Fred Weinberg he is an error expert/dealer and a member of this community.To do this :Just click on the search tab at the top of the page and then go to the search for member bar at the bottom of the page.Type in fredweinberg in the search for member box, then click on the " Lock" icon to send him a message.You must have that feature turned on your profile in order for it to work.To do that :Click on profile at top of page,scroll down to allow private message and check the yes box. When you see the lock icon on the top left of the page is open ,you have a private message.
    Or if you prefer you can contact him through his web site.
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    Thanks everyone, I think I'll be leaving the bags alone after reading the comments as I don't want to be the "greater fool"! image
    "If at first you don't succeed, perhaps parachuting isn't for you."
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    << <i>At one time the $25 DE P bags were close to $1000 apiece on ebay. >>



    I had absolutely no idea these bags fetched prices like this. This is astounding. A quick search on ebay now shows these bags still in the $400-500 range, with D mints currently getting upwards of $800.

    Are people really buying these to search? This type of value can't really be sustained, can it?
    David

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