The Truth About Error Coins
3 Legged Buffalo Nickel
Example of Wartime Nickel
We get tons of calls a day about “Error Coins”. I decided to write a page about the TRUTH about error coins. The mint makes MILLONS of errors every year. Most are caused by flawed planchets, die cracks or broken dies. Very few errors actually add value to a coin. The first thing is the coin has to have a key date, meaning a year there were less of that coin made. A lot of the videos you see on YouTube are not based in reality. Many of those channels post videos to get clicks for the advertising money. The more clicks they get the more they are paid. The more “merch” they sell the more money they make. It is basiclly disinformation to prey on people desperate to make a quick buck. The truth is if you reach into your coin cup and immediately find the coin they are talking about, it is probably not rare. Another myth is a coin with no mint mark is an error. That is not ture. A coin with NO MINT MARK just means it was minted in Philadelphia. The Philapelphia Mint is the largest mint in the U.S. and mints most of the coins in the U.S. Actual rare coins are coins that a coin collector could spend a lifetime searching for a particular coin. Don’t be discouraged but remember anything worth doing is never easy. However are there coins out there that are worth more than the face value? Absolutely!!!
So I know I have probably bursted a lot of people bubbles but I am going to give you some good information on what to look for after I give you all the bad news first. First rule of coins older doesn’t mean it is worth more it only means it is older. While older coins can be worth much more than modern coins it is usally not due to the age it has to do with the material the coin is made of, how many were minted and the condition of the coin. With that in mind NEVER CLEAN A COIN. Coin Collectors, like car collectors, want a coin that is as as close to original as possible. When you clean a coin you strip the original patina of the coin away thus removing any numismatic value the coin may of had. So how do you find coins that are actually worth money? The first thing I would do is order a copy of “The United States Red Book”. The “Red Book” has a wealth of information about coins, including mintage figures, Varitry types, Images of the different variations and rough values of coins.
Error Coins Worth Money
The Three Legged Buffalo
There are some Error coins that are worth money. For instance the 3 legged buffalo nickel. This variety was only made in 1936 and 1937 from the Denver mint only. It is unknown How many of these error coins were produced and survived. As you can see in the picture to the left, this variety of buffalo nickles is easy to spot as the front leg on the left side of the coin is not visable. In 1936 the Denver Mint also made an error buffalo nickel known as the 3 1/2 legged buffalo. While this variety is not nearly as valueable as the 3 leeged buffalo they are worth considerably more than valueable than a common date buffalo nickel.
Double Die Obverse Coins
There are a lot of coins that have a double die obverse variation. These coins are extremely easy to spot. The obverse, the back side of the coin, will have been struck twice and when you look at them it almost looks like you have double vision as the second strike on the coin will be slightly off from the original strike.
Over Strikes
Some Coins have what are called overstrikes. If you look at the pictures to the left you will see some examples of some overstrikes. Sometimes coins will have one mintmark over the another mintmark. For example the D over S is a Denver Mintmark over the San Fransico mintmark. Another example is the S over D which is the San Franciso over the Denver mintmark.
So how do I know what coins to look for?
So how do I know what coins to look for? Most coin collections don’t have a single coin that’s worth a lot of money. It is normally the bulk of collection that brings the money. I am not saying not to check your coins for rare coins but most collections are full of common date coins. That does not mean the collection is not worth money. The coins to look for are quarters, dimes, and half dollars 1964 and before (90% silver also known as junk silver), half dollars 1965-1970 (40% silver) and dollar coins 1935 and before (90% silver).
There was also a few years that we used a little amount of silver which are known as “wartime nickles”. Those are easy to spot as they have a large mint mark on the back of the of the coin above the Monticello, the building on the back of nickels. These nickles produced from 1942-1945, unlike most nickels which are made of nickle were made with 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese. Most nickles are made of nickel. That’s why we call them nickels. Coin collecting is not a get rich quick solution. But is a very fun and can be a lucrative hobby. Buy very few times do you find a single coin worth tens or hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. Are there coind out there that have been worth it. Yes but they are EXTREMELY RARE. You have a better chance accumulating the pre-1964 coins thatare 90% silver and building up the value of your collection than finding that one rare coin worth a ton of money. I am not trying to discourage anyone but I am going to give you the truth. Again I am not saying to not look for a rare date coin in your change, you might be one of the lucky people who finds one.But in reality the chances are very low. Finding that key date coin is possible but not very likely.
