Amazon Error Coin Guide Study
Stan2009
Posts: 7 ✭
My name is Stan McDonald, and I have been publishing guides on error coins since 2009. Every photograph in my books comes from coins that are either currently in my personal collection or that I have owned and sold in the past. I had the help of Heritage to sell a lot of error coins I no longer needed. I also include a contact email address for questions about anything.
My primary book is a comprehensive reference that covers all major types of coin errors, complete with high-quality photos and detailed descriptions. It also includes an extensive archive of actual auction results I have compiled since 2009, giving readers valuable insight into realistic low and high selling prices for these coins. This resource is specifically designed to help collectors and dealers buy and sell error coins with a clear understanding of current market values.
Sometime in 2023, the number of error-coin books available on Amazon suddenly surged from just a handful to well over 200. The vast majority of these new titles appear to be fraudulent or low-quality listings.
Many are published under different author names but use identical or very similar content and images. Unsold copies are quickly delisted and replaced with new listings, which explains the rapid increase in titles.
I have personally documented 129 of these suspicious books, and the total count—including multiples under different names—exceeds 200. It is widely suspected in the numismatic community that most of these books originate from the same small group of sellers, possibly located in India, Pakistan, or another overseas location.
81 of these books has a British surname
26 names are invented
22 names could be from foreign countries or the USA
Comments
I bought 3 versions of the 5 published of Cronin's Errors and varieties as he kept revising the book with different coins. I like picture books, so had to get more than one issue.
Joe included imagery from Heritage, Stacks auctions and other sources.
Many unique & highly desirable actual error coins, not just varieties shown via dozens of professionally captured images he was able to republish with citations.
I am happy I own 3 versions of 5 published.
Maybe there's something updated for 2025 or upcoming in 2026 ?
Edition 3 overview is at Newman portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/periodical/634312
edit into the title - and suspicious book publications
has the explosion occurred since the ai age started?
Absolutely. I will run a Grok search to see what comes up.
Failure to get Grok to validate.
Samuel Archer - From a foreign country issuing hundreds of error coin guides
9798291864258 - B0FH756Q1L
Who is buying this book and why?
The graph depicts a suspiciously sharp decline in reviews after an initial spike of 467 in July 2025, the month of the book's publication (July 9, 2025). For a self-published niche guide on U.S. error coins by an obscure author, this pattern is highly indicative of review manipulation—common in Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing ecosystem, where bots, paid reviewers, or coordinated farms inflate ratings at launch to game algorithms and boost visibility, only for organic interest to plummet afterward
Further scrutiny reveals this book fits a broader trend of low-effort, possibly AI-generated content flooding the coin collecting category. Similar titles (e.g., "US Error Coins Guide 2025," "The Ultimate US Error Coin Guide") proliferate with generic descriptions, fabricated author bios (Samuel Archer is described as a "respected researcher" with 20+ years' experience, but no verifiable background exists outside Amazon listings), and promotional "reviews" embedded in product blurbs that mimic genuine testimonials but lack authenticity.
A dedicated exposé book, "Error Coin Books - Uncovering Dishonesty, Deception, Inaccuracies, and Misleading Information" by Fred Wright directly calls out such guides—including patterns matching this one—for containing falsehoods (e.g., nonexistent coins like a 1967-D Lincoln cent), plagiarized photos, alias authors with fake profiles, and orchestrated five-star review campaigns. This aligns with known issues in numismatics, where spam books exploit enthusiasts with inaccurate info to extract quick sales. In summary, the 467 July reviews are not credible; they're likely fabricated to artificially propel the book, explaining the rapid drop-off as fake engagement tapered.
This book is number one in Amazon books - Best Sellers Rank: #4,897 in Books - The number of reviews can move a book to the top. That is why some people using review farming. The only question is why this book is selling versus the other 400+. You will not find this guy on the internet in any social sites.
Word of mouth is probably 100 times more reliable than internet reviews.
Thank you for publishing this. Have you posted this on Facebook?
I don't use Facebook. I have Pinterest but they will lock my account and YOUTUBE. I tried some things on YouTube and receive almost no responses. I post all my docs on X with a link to web documents I have posted. I even wrote a book Amazon Error Coin Guides: Uncovering dishonesty, deception, inaccuracies, and misleading information https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G344YWS9 I am selling it with close to not profit at $9.99 and Kindle .99 to try to get the word out.
Are you Fred Wright too ?
Your Amazon linky is for Fred Wright's book and not for Stan McDonald.
"Amazon Error Coin Guides: Uncovering dishonesty, deception, inaccuracies, and misleading information Paperback – November 19, 2025
by Fred Wright (Author)"
I used a friend of mine's name because I have books on Amazon since 2009 and I did not know if the book would compromise my sales. So far, I have nine sales. It is not a traditional book.
The book is now free. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G344YWS9 for four days.