The United States Mint is nearly as old as the United States itself. After the founding of our country, the government realized immediately the need for unique coinage to build our national identity. By 1793, the first United States Mint building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was erected. This first facility was tasked with producing all of the country’s coinage, but before long was operating at full capacity, necessitating the creation of more facilities.
The United States Mint was established April 2, 1792, and is recognized all over the world. Primarily producing coins for the United States, the mint also strikes currency for other countries, as it has since shortly after being founded.
While the U.S. Mint got its start in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it quickly began to expand and needed additional facilities to continue operations. Many coins produced by the mint carry what is known as a mintmark, a piece of identification on the individual coin that shows the minting location.
How Are Coins Made?
All coins struck in the United States are struck by a pair of dies. A die is a steel rod with a face that is the same size as the coins that it will be striking. This steel rod will contain the design for one side of the coin. Two of these steel rods (dies) are needed to strike coins. One will have the obverse (front of the coin) design, and the other will have the reverse (back of the coin) design.
The dies are set up in a machine called a coining press so that a planchet (blank) will come between them. In the older coining presses one die would be positioned above the other. The upper die (hammer die) would come down with great force and strike the planchet while it was resting on the lower die (anvil die). The force of the hammer die striking the planchet on the anvil die would place the images from the dies onto the planchet and the result would be a coin as we know it.
In the newer coining presses the action of the hammer die is now side-to-side rather than up and down, but the process is still essentially the same, as is the result.
The reality is that the die varieties we enjoy collecting, which includes doubled dies, re- punched mint marks (RPMs), over mint marks (OMMs), re- punched dates (RPDs), over dates, (OVDs), and misplaced dates (MPDs), are the result of mishaps that occur in the process of making the dies that strike the coins. A working knowledge of the die making process will help us to see how the various die varieties resulted over the years.
What are Error Coins?
An error coin is a coin that was manufactured incorrectly by a mint. Many times called mint errors, error coins come in scores of “shapes, sizes and types.” The sheer variety of minted errors adds excitement and uniqueness in collecting them.
Before buying a mint error, knowing the type of coin and the latest selling prices for similar coins is a sound idea. There is a bunch of error coin price guides out there that will help you associate value with your collection.
Die Variety
A Die Variety any variation in the normal design of a given coin, usually caused by errors in the preparation or maintenance of the coin dies. Typical die varieties include doubled dies; re-punched mint marks and dates; variations in the placement or alignment of mint-marks, letters and numbers, devices, etc.; changes to the die surfaces from over-polishing or die clashes; and a number of other minor variations in the final strike of the coin.
One must be careful not to confuse die varieties with error coins, which have variations in their appearance as a result of the manufacturing process itself, such as off-center strikes, wrong planchet types, planchet preparation mistakes, etc.
Doubled Die
Commonly searched for online and called, “Double Die”. Doubled dies are a result of the way in which in the United States Mint’s dies are created. Before 1997, die pairs (hammer die and anvil die) were made
by hubs that contained the raised elements that were intended to appear on the coin. The blank dies were heated (to soften the surfaces of them) and then were pressed against the hubs to transfer the design from the hub to the working dies.
One impression was not enough in every case to transfer the design elements from the hub to the die, so multiple impressions were required to transfer enough of the design. For this reason, after the first impression was made, the die was reheated and prepared for a second impression.
The mint workers would use guides to align the hub and the working die perfectly to prevent overlapping, or a doubled die. It is when mint workers failed to align dies properly during this process that doubled dies were produced. In many instances three to four impressions were required, which could but rarely led to tripled and quadrupled dies.
Modern coining methods have vastly reduced the frequency of these varieties due to the use of a single squeeze hubbing method during die creation, but doubled dies in modern United States coinage are still occurring.
With the new die making process, implemented after 1996, dies only required one impression of the hub to transfer all of the design from the hub to the die. But it has been discovered that the pressure created is so great, that some dies tend to slightly rotate during this process.
Additional Information:
Doubled dies are created a first image is imprinted and then an additional image is stamped on top of that. These are classified into eight accepted classes. These classes are outlined below.
Doubled Die Classes
Class 1, Rotated
A class I doubled die results when the die receives an additional hubbing that is misaligned in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.
Class 2, Distorted
A class 2 doubled die results when the hub’s design moves toward the rim between “hubbings”.
Class 3, Design
A class 3 doubled die results when a hub bearing a different design stamps a die bearing another design.
Class 4, Offset
A class 4 doubled die results when the die receives an additional hubbing that is misaligned in an offset direction.
Class 5, Pivoted
A class 5 doubled die results when the die receives an additional hubbing that was misaligned via rotation with a pivot point near the rim.
Class 6, Distended
A class 6 doubled die results when the die receives an additional hubbing from a hub that was distended.
Class 7, Modified
A class 7 doubled die results when the hub is modified between the die’s hubbings (e.g., a design element was chiseled off for various reasons).
Class 8, Tilted
A class 8 doubled die results when a die and/or hub is tilted during a hubbing.
W here Can I Get
Coins and Banknotes?
Ask Friends, Family and Other Enthusiasts
Ask people you know if they have old change (Early 60s silver coins and pre 50s pennies especially.), old collections, old banknotes (like $2 bills, silver certificates, etc.) or know of any locations for sales/ estate auctions besides eBay or common online markets. You would be surprised how many people have that old change jar somewhere in their home, waiting to be searched through!
Check with Your Local Bank or Credit Union
Many banks will sell you rolls or bags of coins at face value and you can also find a slew of old banknotes. Variety & Errors have found a TON of great variety and error coins and banknotes this way! It is shocking to think the bank would have great coin finds throughout this rolls and bags!
Expand Your Collection
You can also visit your local coin or gold dealer, hobby store, and individual collectors for buying coins. They typically sell banknotes and coins, but not always at the greatest prices however. These stores almost all the time there’s a cheap coin bin that is suitable for kids and adults alike to search through.
Collecting Coins Out of Pocket Change
Once a modern coin has been in circulation, it is typically only worth its face value, although there are notable exceptions. Many varieties of
banknote and coins can be found in pocket change. To be honest, the entire Variety and Errors YouTube channel would have never been anything at all without the wonderful pocket money finds we come across in our searches.
Grading of Banknotes and Coins
Simply put… most people over grade their own currency. It is a simple fallacy we all have, the wishful perception of our finds being worth more than they really are. A qualified second opinion is something important to seek when determining the value for any currency you collect.
Buy the Information Before the Coin
This is an oft-used saying in numismatics that outlines the necessity of researching and understanding a coin before dropping money on it. One of the best ways to “buy and sell carefully” is to read up on the item before you buy the coin. Knowledge is power… and that applies greatly in the coin world. Would you rather KNOW you have a rare and valuable coin, or THINK you have a rare and valuable coin?
Go Out and Meet Other Coin Enthusiasts
That’s right! This hobby is actually meant to get out and be social. There are conventions, meet up groups, social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter, along with many other great avenues for meeting new and interested people who are also into collecting coins. Check out your local coin store or search online for a Numismatics Association near you. Plus, currency hunting is always better with friends!