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Collecting die varieties in modern coinage
DCW
Posts: 7,820 ✭✭✭✭✭
Goodmorning Folks,
I'd like to talk about die varieties and start by saying that I believe people choose to collect coins, at least initially, because there is an attraction to these discs of metal in our hands that are by popular vote deemed "special." Some collect the key dates; others, a birthyear set. Some people have to have every mint mark in every die marriage known for the series or they wont be able to sleep at night. And some of us, introverted and unloved as we are, collect "die varieties."
Anyone here check pocket change? Find any 09S-VDB's lately? No? How about a 32-d Washington? People, silver now reaches our hands only by way of negligence at the coinstar machine. At best, a well circulated semi-key escapes a whitman folder and is spent unknowingly at the supermarket. We of course trophy it up, patting each other on the back with a heartfelt "You Suck." The days of finding something for nothing, folks, is over. And with that, comes serious consequences for cultivating young numismatists, which in turn poses a dilemma for this hobby we all enjoy. How will new collectors enter the hobby?
In "modern coinage" I can think of nothing more exciting than the search for die varieties. Although most, if not all, require high magnification to ascertain the details, they can still be quite significant and share a well deserved place in a specialty collection. And because they are not visible to the unaided eye, the majority go undetected. They circulate (as much as modern coinage can in this day and age) and succumb to the laws of attrition, eventually sharing a landfill in Jersey with the remains of Jimmy Hoffa.
The question has been posed in another thread, "At what magnification does a variety become irrelevant?" A good question with many variables in my opinion. The pundits seem to agree that a variety is worthless once a strong loupe is needed to identify it. While a valid perspective, may I bring to the table a different point of view? You may not wish to pull out that triplet and check lincoln cents for rare varieties, and that is fine if they dont interest you. But, would it interest you if you could sell that "worthless" cent that you received in change and use the proceeds to purchase or offset the cost for something that you really want?
The small cent, for example, is a treasure trove full of interesting and valuable varieties. I think that a variety's relevance (major or minor) should depend on the SIZE of the coin as much as the amount of MAGNIFICATION needed to view it. If we are talking Morgans, at 10x's magnification, we can't readily lump indian head cents into the conversation. This is like comparing grapes to grapefruits. If you blow up some macro photos of that indian cent to the size of a Morgan Dollar, you may just find that a significant variety was there all along, one that you can now view pleasantly from an enlarged 12.1 megapixel image.
My point is this, we should never close our minds before the prospect of financial gain or the possibilty of being turned onto new things. We should accept the fact there will never again be another key date in any series produced by the US MINT intended for circulation. Why not look for rare varieties? Scroll eBay for DDO's, DDR's, and RPM's, and you will see. These things go for "moon money" and they have a bright future, especially since there still remains the very real possibilty of finding them in some dealer's junk box or even on the ground.
See a penny pick it up... maybe you'll have some good luck.
1995-D Doubled Die Obverse. PCGS MS-66RD. Estimated value: $1000 and up
I'd like to talk about die varieties and start by saying that I believe people choose to collect coins, at least initially, because there is an attraction to these discs of metal in our hands that are by popular vote deemed "special." Some collect the key dates; others, a birthyear set. Some people have to have every mint mark in every die marriage known for the series or they wont be able to sleep at night. And some of us, introverted and unloved as we are, collect "die varieties."
Anyone here check pocket change? Find any 09S-VDB's lately? No? How about a 32-d Washington? People, silver now reaches our hands only by way of negligence at the coinstar machine. At best, a well circulated semi-key escapes a whitman folder and is spent unknowingly at the supermarket. We of course trophy it up, patting each other on the back with a heartfelt "You Suck." The days of finding something for nothing, folks, is over. And with that, comes serious consequences for cultivating young numismatists, which in turn poses a dilemma for this hobby we all enjoy. How will new collectors enter the hobby?
In "modern coinage" I can think of nothing more exciting than the search for die varieties. Although most, if not all, require high magnification to ascertain the details, they can still be quite significant and share a well deserved place in a specialty collection. And because they are not visible to the unaided eye, the majority go undetected. They circulate (as much as modern coinage can in this day and age) and succumb to the laws of attrition, eventually sharing a landfill in Jersey with the remains of Jimmy Hoffa.
The question has been posed in another thread, "At what magnification does a variety become irrelevant?" A good question with many variables in my opinion. The pundits seem to agree that a variety is worthless once a strong loupe is needed to identify it. While a valid perspective, may I bring to the table a different point of view? You may not wish to pull out that triplet and check lincoln cents for rare varieties, and that is fine if they dont interest you. But, would it interest you if you could sell that "worthless" cent that you received in change and use the proceeds to purchase or offset the cost for something that you really want?
The small cent, for example, is a treasure trove full of interesting and valuable varieties. I think that a variety's relevance (major or minor) should depend on the SIZE of the coin as much as the amount of MAGNIFICATION needed to view it. If we are talking Morgans, at 10x's magnification, we can't readily lump indian head cents into the conversation. This is like comparing grapes to grapefruits. If you blow up some macro photos of that indian cent to the size of a Morgan Dollar, you may just find that a significant variety was there all along, one that you can now view pleasantly from an enlarged 12.1 megapixel image.
My point is this, we should never close our minds before the prospect of financial gain or the possibilty of being turned onto new things. We should accept the fact there will never again be another key date in any series produced by the US MINT intended for circulation. Why not look for rare varieties? Scroll eBay for DDO's, DDR's, and RPM's, and you will see. These things go for "moon money" and they have a bright future, especially since there still remains the very real possibilty of finding them in some dealer's junk box or even on the ground.
See a penny pick it up... maybe you'll have some good luck.
1995-D Doubled Die Obverse. PCGS MS-66RD. Estimated value: $1000 and up
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
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And you are totally correct. Makes all us old farts want to go get our eyes re examined...or at least keep our trusty reading glasses in the pocket at all times!
The Two-Horned Bison................
Hoard the keys.
<< <i>I estimate 1,000,000 clad 1969 D Type B quarters were in circulation at one time. Most must still be there. Yet very few folk have found them. It would be interesting to see some show up for sale. Cherrypickers, get cracking. Then, again, there are 1970 D, 1971 D and 1972 D B's, but they are scarcer yet. >>
Well... ...most of the ones left are still there. About half of them are gone now; permanently lost
to fire and flood.
Above - 1970-D DDO Washington - Super hard to find!
Above - 1977-D DDO-001 Kennedy - Another tough one to find!
Above 1973-D DDO-001 Kennedy - You folks just scanning for Silver are really missing out!
The name is LEE!
It's shown here with a Proof to show what it should look like.
Your statement that "The pundits seem to agree that a variety is worthless once a strong loupe is needed to identify it." is not what I meant by my comment.
While I certainly can't speak for the others who posted to that thread, I definitely did not mean to imply that these varieties are worthless - either from a financial perspective, or from the study of the minting process that creates them. I just meant - they are not for me.
I also don't 'get' errors, either. I am always amazed at the technical knowlege that some error experts display when describing how a particular specimen ended up as it did. But, I just don't get excited about them the way that some people do.
Type B Washington quarters? I have never checked for any. It just does not hold my interest.
But, all of this is very personal. People collect what does excite them. That is a very good thing. The hobby is broad enough that people explore many areas of collecting that are not of interest to everyone. What I collect may not excite anyone else, either. But I love my collection none the less.
So, if my comment was misconstrued to minimize the value of these varieties, or those who hunt for them, my sincere apologies to all. It was certainly not my intent. Collect what you like, and so much the better if your specialty allows you to cherrypick coins from those of us who do not check for your varieties.
Chris
merse
I felt that way once. I changed my mind. They were a very daring, revolutionary move on the part of the mint in 1937 and the longest lived version of the Washington Quarter (1937-1972 R.I.P.)
<< <i><<Type B Washington quarters? I have never checked for any. It just does not hold my interest.>>
I felt that way once. I changed my mind. They were a very daring, revolutionary move on the part of the mint in 1937 and the longest lived version of the Washington Quarter (1937-1972 R.I.P.) >>
Can you explain what you mean by that? You might make a convert out of me. What was daring?
merse
Stayed tuned, I will try to get back to this tonight.
"The difference between the recent proofs and those struck in the past is due to the difference in the design and the method used in preparing the master dies. All the present coins are made from sculptured models without retouching with a graver in any way in order to preserve the exact quality and texture of the original sculptor's work. This gives a more or less uneven background with less sharpness in the details. In other words, they are produced the same as smalll medals might be struck."
This letter is a condensed version of information furnished from the Philadelphia mint. There, the writer gave the origin of this as a direct order from President Theodore Roosevelt (in office 1901-1909). But the writer there let his doubts creep in as the wisdom of this order.
In 1937 a new die shows up for the quarter reverse in proof only. The hub looks just like the finished coin. Now imagine taking a standard quarter hub and carving metal away from it with a graver to enhance the appearnce. In this case there was a massive lowering of the field throughout the entire reverse. Individual letters or other features were thickened, thinned and even butchered depending on how it was trimmed. The final result certainly has been touched up with a graver all over it. This was a no-no in 1936. This is what I meant by calling it a daring move.
There were two other aspects of it. We now had two designs for the same coin. That must have been frowned on normally.
Would some folk consider this a design change which could not be done without an Act of Congress? When collectors first started asking questions about this, the mint denied that there was any difference at all. They said that if there were, they would be in violation of the Act of Congress that allowed changes only after 25 years.
1968 was an interesting sequel. The clad quarter coinage was in lower relief than the silver. A proof hub was made from a clad hub in a very similiar manner to 1937, but with lowering the field mainly only in the central part of the reverse. This is what I have been calling a type M. I find them very, very obvious now, but only discovered them around 1985. The master die, made from the new "M" master hub was also touched up giving us changes in relief as well as incuse. Late in 1968, they went back to the old "B" hub used for the silvers.