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Jan. 2003 Book Review Continued
 Collectible Treasures Antique and CollectiblesBook Review Jan. 2003
Major Variety and Oddity Guide of United States Coins
by Frank G. Spadone
Major Variety-Oddity Guide of United States Coins 7th Edition by
F. G. Spadone Listing All U.S. Coins From Half Cents Through Gold
Coins Fully Illustrated, With Values
Contains Technical Data From Surveys and Years of Research,
Estimates of Quantity Known, and Rarities.
All Rights are reserved. No Part of the contents or illustrations
may be reproduced or used to quote, in part, from these pages in
critical articles, for educational and reviewing purposes, and when
proper acknowledgment is made only.
Copyright MCMLXXVII Florence, Alabama
Exclusive Distributors
OverDates: This variety is the result of one or more digits of the
date being reengraved or repunched with a later date number. The
reason for this procedure is the time and cost of engraving a new die.
In case of a rush for more coins, time is saved by punching a new digit
on the date instead of producing a new die. During the early days of
minting, when costs were high, this method helped conserve expenses.
Double Mint Marks: The double impression is caused by the punch
die bouncing or misalignment when struck. This could be from the
engraver's hand, or the die being brittle. In some cases double mint
marks are known to be of different mints (D/S). Since the mint
mark is punched by hand, the position can vary on different dies.
Some double mint marks are known to have horizontal positions,
with corrections made with a regular upright punch. For example
the 1961 D over horizontal D Cent, 1942 D over horizontal D
nickel.
Micro Double Shift: This variety is known on many coins, and any
part of the coin could appear doubled. Actually this is the result of
"out of level dies" which create an excess of metal flow. When two
dies are not level parallel to each other, one edge of both dies will
meet before the opposite edge. To create an even, proper
impression on the whole surface of the coin, the press depth pressure
is made greater. The dies might only be off a few thousandths of an
inch to cause a metal flow. The difference between micro shift and
double die shift is that the latter's doubling is spaced apart while the
former appears almost the same but not spaced.
Double Die Shift: is illustrated by the 1955 and the 1972 Double
Die cent. The 1934 P quarter is also known to have a double die
shift. This rare variety is caused when the master hub impression is
being made on a blank working die. The master hub has the features
intaglio (raised or protruding) and the impression is punched into
the soft blank die. Should the die shift slightly with this operation
or misaligned, a double impression is made on the working die.
This die will then transfer the double impression onto the blank
planchets.
Rotated Dies: If you hold a coin between your fingers upright and
slowly turn it around, you will note the obverse-reverse designs are
upside down from each other. This is the normal standard, however
some coins have been found to have both sides upright, or one design
rotated from 5 to 360 degrees. This is the result of either die being
loose, thus the varying degree of rotation. The bottom die, the
reverse design, is more likely to cause this error, for this die is
stationary. A loose lock screw will cause the die to shift or vibrate.
The upper obverse die is also locked in place with a lock screw,
however, it's not possible for this die to move more than a few
degrees if the screw is loose; beyond this the die would fall out of
the press.
General Primer:
A Briefing In General On How Coin Errors Are Made
Smelting-Strips: Metal alloys are melted and poured into ingots, ready
to be rolled into strips ready for blanking. During the period of cooling
the molten ingots, if any foreign matter or air is trapped it can cause a
coin's surface to peel, appear laminated or have tiny crevices. The
ingots are put through rollers several times to reduce the thickness to
a given standard; for example, a cent blank is approximately .047 thick.
With the upset rim edge (finished product) .061.
Blanking: The finished strips are approximately 5 inches wide and 35
feet long. These strips are fed into multiple die blanks in an operation
that will produce about 2,000 blanks per strip. The perforated strip is
then salvaged for remelting for more ingots. The errors may now occur
if an uneven edge of the strip is punched out. The edge could be
diagonally or otherwise shaped, thus a finished coin with an odd edge
could be round in circulation.
Clipped Planchets: When the blanks are being punched out during this
fast operation, some blanks may not eject properly, creating a jam.
The multiple dies will over-strike two or more blanks and create clips
of various sizes. Some blanks could receive several clips.
Upsetting Edges: The blanks are then conveyed through the roller upset
machine. This process rolls the edge of the blank by pressure at the sides,
and causes the rim to raise slightly higher than the flat blank surface.
This upsetting protects the coin's surface for better, circulation wear; it
also allows for proper pressure expansion in the collar during the striking.
Striking Obverse-Reverse: The finished blanks are now fed to the dies by
a storage hopper. The blanks rest on the stationary lower die (reverse
design) and are struck by the upper punch die (obverse). Both impressions
are made in the same stroke. Should a faulty mechanism fail to eject the
coin properly, a double impression or an off-centered struck blank would
result. Should a coin already struck fail to eject and an oncoming blank
rest over it, the extended pressure created by two coins the collar would
cause the obverse of the bottom to smear and appear larger. The reverse
side of the bottom coin would not be affected. There are a number of
error combinations that can result from defective mechansims.
Considering that thousands of coins are struck at high speed, a number of
defects can occur. File scraps and foreign particles can fill the tiny incused
parts of the die design. This will cause a "filled die variety," a partial or
complete missing digit, lettering or design.
An overworked or defective die could crack or chip. The fault will leave
crevices (incuse), and when struck against a blank will leave a raised
impression, such as a dot, thin or heavy line, or any odd design. The
finished coin is then counted, bagged and stored, ready for shipment to
the Federal Reserve banks, which then distribute to local banks for general
circulation.
Final Word: To attribute newly found errors, a study of the above chapter
will help a great deal in identifying the type phase error.
CounterStamped: large cents and other early U.S. coins are known. These
counterstamped coins appear in many various forms, some are genuine
while others are man made. Incused counterstamped coins are usually of the
name or initial type and man made, yet they can form an interesting and
possibly important reference collection.
Other forms of counterstamps appear of various designs and initials, but these
are of the raised type from official dies. For example many colonial colonies
used the parent country coinage with their own counterstamp to signify the
origin due to critical shortage of circulating coins.
Page:116
Abbreviations Used With U.S. Coins
Engravers' Initials
*AF- Anthony De Francisci
*AW - A.A. Weinman
*B - Charles E. Barber
*C. Gobrecht - Christian Gobrecht
*F - James E. Fraser
*FG - Frank Gasparro
*FS - Felix Schlag
*GR - Gilroy Roberts
*JF - John Flanagan
*JS - John R. Sinnock
*L - James Longacre
*M - Herman A. MacNeil
*M - George T. Morgan
*VDB - Victor David Brenner
Mint Marks
*C - Charolette, N.C.
*CC - Carson City, Nevada
*D - Dahlonega, Georgia - 1838- 1861
*D - Denver, Colo. - 1906-date
*O - New Orleans, La.
*P - Philadelphia
*S - San Francisco, Calif.
Page 102:
Proof Sets
Regular U.S. Proof Sets
Interest in frosted coins has increased with many proof sets containing
one or more coins in a frosted state. Many collectors asked why they
are frosted and if there is any extra value realized for them.
Frosted coins in my opinion are worth an added premium. They are the
result of first strikes from new dies.
Frosted coins have been listed and advertised as Gem, first strikes, and frosted.
If one takes the time he will see that a "frosted coin" is the fleur de coin.
The contrast of the frost and the glowing surface adds color and insures
the coin was a first strike from a new die, thus the features and lettering
will be at their maximum sharpness.
When the die surface wears due to thousands of strokes of use, the
incused parts tend to polish through friction and wear. A blank proof is
glossy throughout, when they are struck on new dies the tiny rough
incused surface will leave the same impression on the coin. New dies
have a smooth glossy field, the incused parts such as the features,
design and lettering are never polished.
Page: 95
1921 Morgan Type Dollars
The Infrequently Reeded 1921 Philadelphia Morgan dollar. As in the case
of the reeded edge cent of 1863 with normal obverse and reverse, Judd
300, the Mint has no records of the purpose of the distinctive edge design. 400,000 pieces were struck, these coins being the first dollars produced
in 1921. Normal reeding collars create 188 corrugations per coin, each
having detailed micro-structure which appears to show the collar was
hand-cut. These 1921-P-I-R. dollars are all from the same reeding collar,
with only 154 corrugations per coin. In addition, the corrugations are
mere simple notches, suggesting the collar was machine cut and that
this unusual reeding was actually the first trial, an unsuccessful one, of
a machine cut collar for silver dollars.
Like the prooflike 1921-P normally reeded dollars, the 1921-P-I-R.
dollars appear, from present distribution, to have been released
selectively in the North Central States. Wastage of the issue,
considered numismatically unpromising, has made BU specimens quite uncommon and prooflike pieces extremely rare; only 3 are known.
An interesting fact about this dollar is that, as the illustration shows, they
can immediately be picked out of a roll of mixed dollars without looking at
the date on any of the coins. Thus, this is the only U.S. coin of any issue which is identified not from its obverse or reverse, but from its edge. It is
also a regular die trial piece and, as such, the last collectible pattern coin
of the United States.
Page 56:
Buffalo Nickels 1913-1938
The Indian Head Nickel commonly referred to as the Buffalo Nickel is
actually a (Bison). The Indian portraited on the obverse is a composit of
3 Indian Chiefs. Chief Big Tree-Seneca Tribe (Fore head, eyes, nose).
Chief Two Moons-Sioux Tribe (Mouth, cheek, chin). Chief Iron Tail-
Cheyenne (Head-neck).
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Guide of United States Coins by Frank G. Spadone
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