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What is behind the trend to look for very minor errors/varieties?

In recent months this board has seen many posts from new members that center around possible new errors or varieties. In most cases the errors/varieties, if they even exist, require extreme magnification to be seen.

What is behind this trend? Is someone promoting this type of thing at some other online source?

All glory is fleeting.

Comments

  • BillDugan1959BillDugan1959 Posts: 3,821 ✭✭✭✭✭

    There is a class of people in U.S.A. that are quite desperate for money; they don't understand the coins/numismatic game (for the most part). They can see that the people here are mostly well-off. Possibly they think we are gullible.

    The strong need for money gets worse during the big holiday periods.

  • Insider2Insider2 Posts: 14,452 ✭✭✭✭✭

    You are asking this question on the World Coin Forum. IMO, world minting errors have lagged behind their US counterparts. World coin varieties in a different "animal." Many are listed in the coin books and are very collectable. I think collecting foreign minting errors is in its infancy. However, many fakes are in the market (I hear from Bulgaria).

  • TwoKopeikiTwoKopeiki Posts: 9,528 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited December 6, 2017 9:13AM

    Well, registry is promoting it, as a lot of countries have a "Complete Variety" type of a set.

    Personally I like varieties and die states because I like objects that tell a story. A lot of people focus on the provenance of their coin. But that's just part of the coin's history. With die states you are now adding the history of that die. With some crude designs you are adding the history of the country in turmoil, torn by conflict. With over-dates and over-assayers you are now adding a little bit of Mint's history of personnel changes, year-end processes, etc...

  • 291fifth291fifth Posts: 23,898 ✭✭✭✭✭

    It loo> @BillDugan1959 said:

    There is a class of people in U.S.A. that are quite desperate for money; they don't understand the coins/numismatic game (for the most part). They can see that the people here are mostly well-off. Possibly they think we are gullible.

    The strong need for money gets worse during the big holiday periods.

    I wonder what got them started on the whole idea of the minor errors/ varieties? Has there been any promotion of this in the general media? Coin collecting is very much below the radar among the general public these days.

    All glory is fleeting.
  • BillDugan1959BillDugan1959 Posts: 3,821 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited December 6, 2017 9:36AM

    @291fifth said:
    It loo> @BillDugan1959 said:

    There is a class of people in U.S.A. that are quite desperate for money; they don't understand the coins/numismatic game (for the most part). They can see that the people here are mostly well-off. Possibly they think we are gullible.

    The strong need for money gets worse during the big holiday periods.

    I wonder what got them started on the whole idea of the minor errors/ varieties? Has there been any promotion of this in the general media? Coin collecting is very much below the radar among the general public these days.

    I mostly agree with your sentiments, but we are maybe getting two or three of these people every ten days or so - that's not a lot, really.

    I don't know exactly what sparks this interest in such minutiae.

    Trouble is the few that show up are very persistent. Money.

    People may not like the word 'trouble', but I really don't expect to see coins that are only worth face value on this site.

    Back in the day, I was pretty well-acquainted with a fellow nicknamed "Mr. Microscope". He went on for many years, but I don't think he ever made the error coin business payoff for him.

  • JBKJBK Posts: 14,639 ✭✭✭✭✭

    People (especially new collectors) see errors and varieties getting a lot of attention and they want to get in on the action. They want trophies and maybe some riches, although in many cases value seems to take a back seat to getting recognition or validation for their "find".

  • coinkatcoinkat Posts: 22,721 ✭✭✭✭✭

    There are some viable explanations

    -a sense of completeness of a series;
    -Identifying and owning something others seem to ignore;
    -a sense of numismatic satisfaction in that some may never be in a position to own the finest known, but through knowledge and being astute changes the playing field

    Now as for World coins, errors and varieties can be an unexplored frontier depending on the country, denomination and series.

    I like world errors and varieties. The biggest problem for many world coin varieties is that there are either minimal or no refefence materials as to what exists or what to look for. I suppose that comes with the territory so anyone interested can become a trailblazer in the tradition of John C. Fremont.

    Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.

  • Timbuk3Timbuk3 Posts: 11,658 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Good information !!! :)

    Timbuk3
  • NapNap Posts: 1,702 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I don't think it's all for money or glory.

    A collector of modest means can never really compete with the big boys. Thus a focus on knowledge of a series and specialization on varieties rather than the deep pockets required to buy the finest examples.

    Of course, that requires in depth study, not just running around on coin boards asking "what's this???" and "is it rare/valuable???"

  • amwldcoinamwldcoin Posts: 11,269 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I think 1 driving factor could be a collector likes a series so much that once he or she has gone as far as they can they expand and start adding varieties,errors,etc. I have started picking up love tokens in my area of interest!

  • MrEurekaMrEureka Posts: 23,891 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited December 9, 2017 7:03PM

    It takes some knowledge and effort to figure out which varieties and errors are worth chasing, and which are not. I suppose a book could be written on that subject, but I'll start with just two thoughts.

    First, if it weren't for the fame of the 1955 Doubled Die Cent, most doubled die coins would be far too subtle to attract much interest or significant premiums. But the very words "Doubled Die" are magical.

    Second, if it weren't for catalog listings and slab labels, many varieties would go from valuable to "who cares?"

    Andy Lustig

    Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.

    Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
  • AbueloAbuelo Posts: 1,758 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I guess depends on the collector. My degree of OCD wouldn't allow me to ignore the varieties...

  • coinkatcoinkat Posts: 22,721 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Catalogs and trying to assemble what has been laid out in variious published works helps create interest by providing sort of a road map. TPG followed the collector interest with most US varieties and they still seem to be selective. Not sure many world varieties are recognized and graded by TPG. Have you seen a Double Die Churchill Crown graded by PCGS or NGC?

    Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.

  • JBKJBK Posts: 14,639 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited December 10, 2017 11:48AM

    @coinkat said:
    Have you seen a Double Die Churchill Crown graded by PCGS or NGC?

    I have a couple hundred Churchill. Where is the DD found on them?

  • coinkatcoinkat Posts: 22,721 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited December 10, 2017 2:39PM

    Outer eye brow, nose and chin of Churchill. Worth looking for and you can spot it when you see it. Good luck in your search. I have the view that it might be the most under appreciated error of Mid Century British coinage. Full disclosure... I have found one and it may be among the finest known.

    Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.

  • coffeycecoffeyce Posts: 1,050 ✭✭✭

    I like errors i can see in hand something that stands out as unique. I have been collecting oddities since 2003. I think its kind of irrelevant if you need a microscope to see doubling or an extra hill/leaf, but to each their own.

  • ElmhurstElmhurst Posts: 768 ✭✭✭

    The Churchill side of my Churchill is barely struck at all.

  • Insider2Insider2 Posts: 14,452 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Many "collectors," CRH, and me cannot afford to buy much of anything so we must be content looking for/dreaming about finding that one big score in our pocket change. Additionally, the knowledge of many "micro" variety hunters seems to be concentrated at both ends of the spectrum - totally clueless or extremely informed expert.

  • BillyKingsleyBillyKingsley Posts: 2,661 ✭✭✭✭

    I've found a couple that were doubled. was told they were machine doubled and not a "true error".

    I don't care. They are clearly different, and that makes them interesting, to me. In both cases, it also allowed me to add something new that would otherwise have been a duplicate.

    I have to admit, making a discovery of a previously unknown piece would be about the greatest thing ever in the hobby.

    Billy Kingsley ANA R-3146356 Cardboard History // Numismatic History
  • kruegerkrueger Posts: 799 ✭✭✭

    I've heard Dealers complain " no one wants to buy varieties they only want to find them".
    some hunters see what they want to see in the minutiae
    Many claimed varieties have no photos of them so people claim they have one as though they are the experts.
    This is a problem for the TPGs who in a lot of cases have no photos either. Books/catalogs list them but no photos
    so the question becomes what does one look like, was it a fantasy of someone who put it in a catalog. Also TPGS like strong examples more easily seen. weak examples
    are hard to get in holders. A lesson I learned from J.T. Stanton at a summer seminar class on varieties.

  • BLUEJAYWAYBLUEJAYWAY Posts: 7,939 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Myself, I got my start in errors many,many, years ago. Started with going to the bank 2x a week lugging home rolls of cents and nickels. Initially checking for key dates of "regular" coinage. Then I started to notice oddities. So went out and purchased the Frank G. Spadone book. Then I moved onto correspondence with the fine folks at Coin World. Specifically Ed Fleischmann,James Johnson, and Marilyn Tiernan who were most helpful in nurturing my learning/interest in error coinage. And I will always remember them for their years of helping me. My error coin interest exists to this day. When I started error coin interest it began with the minors:BIE cents,filled dies etc. Then I graduated to finding clips,O/C,Laminations, Cuds,Occluded gas examples. I never did find the "big ones":55DD,missing clad layers, etc. but the searching/learning aspect of it has provided many years of enjoyment. I learned alot and made good friends along the way. It's not always about the "what have I found coinage wise",sometimes it's more.

    Successful transactions:Tookybandit. "Everyone is equal, some are more equal than others".
  • DBSTrader2DBSTrader2 Posts: 3,444 ✭✭✭✭

    My take on "error" coins is that the Mint churns coinage out at an alarming speed, and there are bound to be errors as a result of planchets sticking, being loaded/ejected wrong, dies failing, etc. I'd be surprised if there WEREN'T errors! And I admit they are often interesting to look at. But going so far as to magnify coins to a tremendous level just to see a slight chip/crack/fault, etc seems at times to be going overboard. Just my take.

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