Hi All,
Being written and illustrated by Bill O’Rourke, the author of the “Found In Rolls” column, as seen in CoinWorld Magazine, “The Roll Searchers’ Handbook” is still in the works!
As I get further into the writing of this book, I am adding more and more of what will help you to identify those rare and valuable coins that you can locate as you search through rolls. The book is growing!
Keep an eye out as I will keep you updated as to my progress!
Have Fun,
Bill O’
Many coin collectors started out by looking through their pocket change to find any coins that might have seemed a little unusual. Often those coins would end up in jars or dresser drawers without being organized in any way. If at that time the coin collecting bug really bit, some people would move to the next step in their pursuit of their hobby.
Purchasing a coin folder from a coin shop or book store, the budding collector would begin to place the coins that were being found in circulation into the dated slots that were in the folders. Many coin folders, particularly in the case of United States coinage, will have slots for coins that are designed to be filled with circulating examples of each date and mint mark combination produced by the U.S. Mint.
One Page from a Coin Album
As their collections progressed, they would find that some coins could be difficult to find in circulation during the normal course of events.
Often, the next step in the hobbyist’s progression is to go to a bank and ask for rolls of coins to take home and look through so that it might increase the chances of finding the coins needed to fill in more of the slots in the coin folder. The new collector makes a life altering discovery! The idea really works!
It is in this way that a new “Roll Searcher” is born!
For those of you who search through rolls of Half Dollar coins or for those of you who may have some Kennedy Halves in your collection, there may be more to them then meets the eye. While many people look for the silver content pieces that occasionally appear, you can discover even more hidden treasures by looking very closely at the smaller details. A good jeweler’s loupe is a great help when examining some of the smaller devices on these coins.
There are many rare and exciting die varieties that can be found on Kennedy Half Dollars. There are Doubled Dies, Tripled Dies and even Quadrupled Dies that can be located if you know what to look for. On the OBVERSE, one of the best places to look for the effects on a coin of having been struck by a die with multiple images is the “IN GOD WE TRUST” motto. If you examine the pictures carefully, you will see the signs of the type of doubling that is very much sought after by collectors.
1964 D Quadrupled Die Obverse - Kennedy Half Dollar - WE
You can see what we call “SPLIT SERIFS” as extra points on the upper portion of the W of WE. You can see the “GROOVES” that run through the letters (especially visible on the 1964 D QDO [Quadrupled Die Obverse] pictured below). And you can see what we call “NOTCHES” that are visible where the overlapping of letters occurs. Notches are visible at the upper and lower portions of letters where the overlapping occurs and they look like little cuts at the “corners” of the letters.
1964 D - Quadrupled Die Obverse - Kennedy Half Dollar
There are also characteristics that we can look at to see if if a Kennedy Half dollar might be one of many doubled die reverse, die varieties.
1969 D Doubled Die Reverse - Kennedy Half Dollar - Doubled Stars
On the REVERSE of the coins, you can look for DOUBLED RAYS or STARS. On some coins, you can see nice doubling on the lettering. The easiest things to spot are grooves on the letters. You can see a nice groove on the last S in the word STATES.
1969 D Doubled Die Reverse - Kennedy Half Dollar
There are varieties on all the silver and silver clad issues as well as many of the copper-nickel clad pieces. Many are aware of the 1974 D DDO (Doubled Die Obverse) as it is listed in “A Guide Book of UNITED STATES COINS” by R.S. Yeoman and edited by Kenneth Bressett but there are some other nice ones to be found. To identify specific Die Varieties, you may want to consider purchasing the “CHERRYPICKERS’ GUIDE to RARE DIE VARIETIES of UNITED STATES COINS” 4th Edition by Fivaz and Stanton. This book is in two volumes. Volume I edited by Mike Ellis includes coins from Half Cents through Nickels and Volume II with a Foreward by Q. David Bowers contains coins staring with Half Dimes and ending with varieties on Twenty Dollar Gold Pieces. Volume II also includes a small section on varieties to be found on Commemorative Half Dollars.
1974 D Doubled Die Obverse - Kennedy Half Dollar
Good Luck In Your Searches! You may be able to find some nice die varieties as you look through your Kennedy half Dollars!
A Series of Poorly Struck Lincoln Cents
Using diagnostics to attribute coins is a two sided issue.
The coins shown here are to point out that what someone sees may not be a diagnostic of anything specific.
The first example shows a coin with a weak E in the motto “E PLURIBUS UNUM”. The coin is dated 1971 D. The weak E can be seen on many coins of many dates and by itself is not a diagnostic tool for anything in particular.
The rest of the coins show similar weakness on the letters STATES OF.
Weakness of strike will cause the lettering on this portion of the coin to show up with various degrees of weakness (or sharpness) of the lettering. It is very common to see different degrees of weakness in this area.
The idea here is that you can’t look for one diagnostic item listed in a guide and based upon that diagnostic alone decide whether a coin is a doubled die or another desirable coin.
Take for example the 1983 Lincoln cent DDR FS# 1c-036 (The big one) . The coin is supposed to have weakness on the words UNITED STATES.
It would not mean that every 1983 cent with weak lettering on UNITED STATES would be a doubled die. Common anomalies do not by themselves allow us to attribute a doubled die for example.
It is often a group of many diagnostic markers that would be used to determine if a coin is one that would be a “keeper”.
The things seen on these coins are on a group of coins that I randomly looked through in about 15 minutes. The “diagnostics” seen on these coins don’t indicate anything. They just happen randomly as coins are being struck.
Here is an example where small things make a big difference. This is an example of a 1972 Lincoln – FS#1c-033.3 (The Big One)
1972 Lincoln Cent, Doubled Die Obverse
When we attribute these, we use very specific diagnostics that have to match up, period…Of course the overall appearance of the coin has to be right.
1972 Doubled Die Obverse - Date
Then we check the date area. We look for the correct notching and grooves. They must be exact. We also look for the doubling on the right side of Lincoln’s jacket such as in the picture above. Next, we look at LIBERTY. Notice how there is less doubling as you move toward the letters TY.
1972 Lincoln Cent Doubled Die Obverse - LIBERTY
Keeping in mind that these coins have been heavily counterfeited, we must examine the obverse of the coin very carefully, then we turn the coin over. It is because counterfeiters either don’t know this or because they can’t duplicate it, that they miss this diagnostic marker on the reverse of the coin. It is extremely small but if it is not there, the coins authenticity is doubtful.
1972 Doubled Die Obverse - Diagnostic Mark
Note the microscopic, fingerlike projection above the D of UNITED, It is on every genuine , undamaged coin. There was a minute scratch in the die that resulted in this little anomaly.
On this coin, it is the combination of diagnostics that allow us to determine if the coin is genuine. If you have an example of one of these, look for the mark above the D and you will find it.
It is also important to note, and I’ve seen it many times before…1972 DDO FS#1c-033.52 has been offered by dealers as “The Big One” because it does have nice doubling but it is not the same as the DDO shown here.
Remember to look for the “finger” above the D which is raised from the surface of the coin to attribute FS#1c-033.3 (The Big One:-)
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