Someone posted this a few months back, and found some today!!

MadMarty · July 12, 2006 8:17AM

Well today I stopped and went looking through proof set, sure as hell I found a 1968-S Proof set with an inverted MM on the Kennedy. It's not even in the Wiles book! This is just too cool!!!

ksteelheader · July 12, 2006 8:22AM

Whatcha gonna do with it??

goose3 · July 12, 2006 8:22AM

interesting....

so what's it worth?

MadMarty · July 12, 2006 8:22AM

Send it to coin world, think of a catchy name, sell it, retire!!!

airplanenut · July 12, 2006 8:23AM

<< interesting....

so what's it worth? >>

Knowing Marty, $7 for the set

MadMarty · July 12, 2006 8:24AM

<< 

<< interesting....

so what's it worth? >>

Knowing Marty, $7 for the set

>>

Please!!!! $6

TorinoCobra71 · July 12, 2006 8:27AM

So will this be a discovery piece?

TorinoCobra71

PS

FIND!

PhillyJoe · July 12, 2006 8:28AM

Maybe the mintmark is OK but the coin is inverted?

Joe

Myqqy · July 12, 2006 8:29AM

Nice!

StrikeOutXXX · July 12, 2006 8:35AM

<< 

<< 

<< interesting....
so what's it worth? >>

Knowing Marty, $7 for the set

>>

Please!!!! $6 >>

He may get his '92 & '94 proof weenies so he can X them off his sig line??

I can't remember if this article was linked in the old thread, I couldn't find it.: Ken Potter 1999 Article

Bochiman · July 12, 2006 8:36AM

<< Send it to coin world, think of a catchy name, sell it, retire!!! >>

Don't forget to report the income to the IRS......

The "sporked" buffalo queen stopped posting just after that was asked, I believe

MadMarty · July 12, 2006 8:37AM

<< To date only five 1968-S Proof half dollars with inverted Mint marks have been found >>

Hmmmm, make that 9.

braddick · July 12, 2006 8:43AM

Very nice!
I've been looking too since that first auction went off and have come up with nothing.

MadMarty · July 12, 2006 8:46AM

<< Very nice!
I've been looking too since that first auction went off and have come up with nothing. >>

Do you remember what it closed at?

braddick · July 12, 2006 8:50AM

<< 

<< Very nice! I've been looking too since that first auction went off and have come up with nothing. >>

Do you remember what it closed at? >>

(((::: Let's see... considering I'm going to be knocking on your door for the one you found. . .::

))

Uhhh... four dollars?!

Russ · July 12, 2006 8:55AM

<< Do you remember what it closed at? >>

$405.

Russ, NCNE

braddick · July 12, 2006 8:58AM

<< 

<< Do you remember what it closed at? >>

$405. Russ, NCNE >>

So I "lost" a decimal point. . .

MadMarty · July 12, 2006 9:20AM

<< 

<< Do you remember what it closed at? >>

$405.

Russ, NCNE >>

I guess it does pay to look at EVERYTHING!!!

DHeath · July 12, 2006 9:35AM

MadMarty · July 12, 2006 9:38AM

smart ass!!

DHeath · July 12, 2006 9:38AM

BlindedByEgo · July 12, 2006 9:44AM

What a bunch of smart asses here.

eyoung429 · July 12, 2006 9:52AM

Well, excuuuusse my mother for sending me to school so I wouldn't be a dumb-ass......

StrikeOutXXX · July 12, 2006 9:59AM

<< 

<< To date only five 1968-S Proof half dollars with inverted Mint marks have been found >>

Hmmmm, make that 9. >>

OK - I just keyed in on the "Some" in the title and the math right here - you found 4 sets of these? (or 3 counting the one a few months ago?). WOW

Russ · July 12, 2006 10:04AM

<< you found 4 sets of these? >>

Yes, he found four.

Russ, NCNE

MadMarty · July 12, 2006 10:07AM

Looking at everything pays off sometimes!

Bochiman · July 12, 2006 10:10AM

<< 

<< you found 4 sets of these? >>

Yes, he found four.

Russ, NCNE >>

Russ, I take it you got a phone call before we even had the thread posted?

grabba · July 12, 2006 10:12AM

<< 

<< Do you remember what it closed at? >>

$405.

Russ, NCNE >>

I can't remember if it met the guys minimum? I don't think it did.

Rampage · July 12, 2006 10:18AM

Now I have to start looking at the 1968 proof sets.

I want one, too!

Russ · July 12, 2006 10:20AM

<< << Do you remember what it closed at? >>

$405.

Russ, NCNE >>

I can't remember if it met the guys minimum? I don't think it did. >>

You're correct. It did not meet reserve.

Russ, NCNE

foodude · July 12, 2006 10:48AM

Too bad you found it so late after it came from the mint. If that happened to a 2006 proof set you could return it to the mint for a non-defective set or a refund

coindeuce · July 12, 2006 11:16AM

DANG IT! Marty. How am I gonna find the time to fix you up with pointed 9 FDR '64 PR sets and cam SMS JFK's if I gotta spend my time lookin' thru hunnerds of '68 Proofs for upside downers??

MadMarty · July 12, 2006 11:24AM

I have looked through thousands of 1968 sets, and this is the 1st batch I have ever seen! I didn't even stop to take a picture!!!

peg · July 12, 2006 11:30AM

<< Send it to coin world, think of a catchy name, sell it, retire!!! >>

Damn......you're good!!!

keets · July 12, 2006 11:33AM

OK, help me out here.

during this time period, were the MM's still added after the working dies were hubbed or were the MM's added at the Master hub and then impressed on the working dies??

MadMarty · July 12, 2006 11:38AM

<< OK, help me out here.

during this time period, were the MM's still added after the working dies were hubbed or were the MM's added at the Master hub and then impressed on the working dies?? >>

They must have been, how else does one get put on upside-down.

Russ · July 12, 2006 11:40AM

Yes, they were still punched at the time.

Russ, NCNE

MadMarty · July 12, 2006 11:55AM

I just got an E-Mail from Ken Potter seems this is a find!

<< Very neat! We've only had six of this variety reported in the last seven years -- five from the discoverer! >>

keets · July 12, 2006 11:59AM

what prompted my question??

well, in the picture the MM certainly looks like an upside down "S" but it doesn't look like the other "S" that's correctly punched. that must mean at least two punches were used, yet i thought only one punch was used.

StrikeOutXXX · July 12, 2006 12:02PM

<< I just got an E-Mail from Ken Potter seems this is a find!

<< Very neat! We've only had six of this variety reported in the last seven years -- five from the discoverer! >>

>>

Wow - Marty has 40% of the known population of this bad boy. Any speculation as to what yours will grade? Now I would push for a new article in CoinWorld and you should be set

Coppernicus · July 12, 2006 12:02PM

So there must be a lot of these out there? Assuming, of course, that the obverse die lasted awhile...

Mike

Russ · July 12, 2006 12:05PM

<< So there must be a lot of these out there? >>

Tons of them. They were first discovered seven years ago and now we're up to a whopping 10 known examples.

Russ, NCNE

braddick · July 12, 2006 12:06PM

<< So there must be a lot of these out there? Assuming, of course, that the obverse die lasted awhile... Mike >>

I bet the Mint caught it pretty quick and/or destroyed most of the coins that were minted from that die.

Otherwise these- being so easy to spot with the naked eye, would show up more often than not.

My guess is if there are about a dozen out there now that are known, give or take, and you might double that number, maybe, to get closer to the true mintage.

Anyone thinking there are hundreds of these yet to be discovered is dilusional.

keets · July 12, 2006 12:15PM

Anyone thinking there are hundreds of these yet to be discovered is dilusional.

maybe, maybe not. look at it this way, Pat; Marty was just made aware of it in the past month or two and he's starting to find them, not as an occasional single coin here and another there, but in a small group. Cladking or condor101 might be better able to shed light on grouping and distribution of Sets but it appears that they may indeed be more available than the secret keepers would have us think.

a few people searching in darkness may not be as good of a bellweather as the inhabitants of Coinalot searching in the light of day. after another year i think it may be time to give a realistic estimate, for now, i think anywhere from 10-1000 may exist.

to be honest, i haven't even looked at any sets yet, i read the thread and conveniently forgot about it until Marty reminded me how much he sucks!!

Coppernicus · July 12, 2006 12:19PM

Russ, braddick, Keats...EASY!! I was just wondering that if a working die was mis-punched, then perhaps these were more common than the pops would suggest. I didn't want to ignite a controversy! (Although I've noticed it's pretty easy to do here....)

Mike

MadMarty · July 12, 2006 12:28PM

Al, I have been looking for this one since 2002 when I saw the article about it. I thought it was a numismatic myth until the one hit E-Bay a couple months ago. Every time I look at a 68 proof set I check out the MM.

Russ · July 12, 2006 12:31PM

Well, if the mint didn't catch it all all, we'd be looking at a maximum of around 4000 examples. Assuming, of course, they only screwed up on one die. Out of a mintage in the 3 million range, that would still make it pretty scarce. Much scarcer than the 1972 Type 2 Ike, and it brings a pretty hefty premium.

Russ, NCNE

braddick · July 12, 2006 12:32PM

I wasn't aware Marty was just made aware of these... admittingly, I had kind of heard of these years ago but never seriously looked for them. All I know is if only about a dozen exist, and it's an error that is seen with the naked eye, Marty simply lucked out- as he always does (everything from the 1893-S Morgan found at the antique shop and purchased at a little over scrap, or other jewels he seems to turn up-).

Even with all of us looking I still can't imagine more than a few more of these being located.

We here on the forums are not the only ones out there hunting!

Then again Keets, it's always amazed me how the 1918/17 Buffalo wasn't discovered until a decade or two after they were minted, so you do have a good point based on sound reasoning and logic. A couple of dozen or a couple of hundred?

It'll be fun to watch and see what happens in the next year or so, definitely.

keets · July 12, 2006 12:32PM

hey Mike, no controversy on my part, but i can't speak for those other guys!!!!

i think it's worth noting that with the 1971 No "S" Jefferson it would have been easy for the operator or someone at packaging/quality control to notice the abscence of a MM, yet a well documented total(at least the Mint gives us this number) of about 1,650 coins got released. with this error the MM is at least present so i'd expect that it's reasonable to have excaped detection for awhile.

my only point was that this inverted MM wasn't well known. only a few were aware of it and perhaps only a few were looking for it. more searchers will give a better estimate in a shorter time frame. can anyone tell us when it was discovered??

......................i also can appreciate the coincidence factor. it's entirely plausible that Marty heard about it and decided to look at some sets and found some coins. i know that's happened for me. i had read through a short segment in Breens Encyclopedia and happened to arrive at the point in the Commem section where he's talking about the C'stamped Clevelands. sure-as-shootin' i found both varieties within two weeks.

life can be a strange bird at times, that what makes the hobby so much fun.

braddick · July 12, 2006 12:33PM

::Whoops:: Just now read were Marty states he's been on the prowl since 2002 for these. . .

Coppernicus · July 12, 2006 12:38PM

My guess is that there are a lot more than a dozen or so out there. So many people buy proof sets every year and have no idea what may be in there - they're just saving them for the grandkids, etc. How many sets were sold in '68?

It takes a numismatist to first notice these errors, and a lot of publicity before they become well known, even among the collecting community. Unless the mint employees found this error very early in the production run, I would think there's quite a few of them still out there.

I'm sure I can get some "unopened" '68 proof sets on ebay....

Mike

Someone posted this a few months back, and found some today!!

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