1983 Olympic Silver Dollar Error?

mkpar72 · November 25, 2019 3:40PM

I'm new to this forum, so apologies in advance if this post is in the wrong thread. I'm also new(er) to collecting, but I'm finding it to be fascinating - so I appreciate your input.

I have a 1983 Uncirculated Olympic Silver Dollar set (P,D,S) in the original packaging from the mint. The S mint marked coin appears to show slight doubling, and perhaps tripling (if that's even a thing?) in the letters on the reverse. Through researching online, I haven't been able to find a single mention of errors in this coin. I know it's not really a popular coin, and the design isn't all that impressive.

My question is - with a mintage of 174,104 uncirculated "S" coins, does the doubling add any value to the coin? I've seen that the MS70 coins bring big money, but PCGS has only graded 5 in MS70 (from the info I found - I could be wrong). Therefore, assuming it's not MS70, would the doubling actually detract from the value? Also, the actual "S" mint mark is deeply punched compared to the P and D coins.

I appreciate any info/thoughts/advice you may have - thank you!

Kliao · November 25, 2019 3:48PM

There are no known DDO of this coin. Looks like machine doubling to me.

mkpar72 · November 25, 2019 4:53PM

@Kliao said:
There are no known DDO of this coin. Looks like machine doubling to me.

Thanks Kliao. Like I said, I'm fairly new to collecting, and I wasn't clear of the distinction between the two. Having just read up on that, I think I misunderstood the difference. Knowing that now - It amazes me that there are so many people advertising DDO/DDR coins on eBay, that are really just machine doubles.
You learn something every day - appreciate the knowledge! Thank you!

astrorat · November 25, 2019 5:01PM

Welcome to the Board! The easiest way to tell is to look for 'split serifs' on the letters (other than 'O,' of course). Machine doubling looks like a shelf on the edge of the letter. A doubled die will usually show a clear split on the serifs of the letters and 'ends' of the numbers. A google search will yield a wealth of information

mkpar72 · November 25, 2019 6:16PM

@astrorat said:
Welcome to the Board! The easiest way to tell is to look for 'split serifs' on the letters (other than 'O,' of course). Machine doubling looks like a shelf on the edge of the letter. A doubled die will usually show a clear split on the serifs of the letters and 'ends' of the numbers. A google search will yield a wealth of information

Appreciate the info - thank you.

ricko · November 26, 2019 7:37AM

@mkpar72 ....Welcome aboard.... excellent pictures you posted. I also agree that the phenomena you observed is machine doubling... Have fun and hope to see more from you... Cheers, RickO