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My New Online Book – Coming Soon – A Guide to Successful Roll Searching

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

Hi All,

I haven’t added any new articles recently but there is a GREAT reason for that! I have been busy putting together my “Guide to Successful Roll Searching”. Many people have asked me questions about how I go about finding all kinds of rare and interesting coins in rolls that I obtain at local banks.

As the author of the “FOUND IN ROLLS” column as seen in CoinWorld Magazine, I will give you some ideas and tips that can make your Roll Searching activities much more fruitful!

This book is already full of great pictures and I still have more to add.

Designed to be a book for readers of all levels of numismatic knowledge, I cut through the mystery of things like Varieties, Die Varieties and Errors. I will also show you what kinds of seemingly common coins can have great numismatic value.

Whether you are a Brand New Collector or a Seasoned Roll Searcher, this book is for you!

Check back often, the “Guide to Successful Roll Searching” should be online and ready to go within the next few weeks.

Have Fun,
Bill O’

Posted in Books, Die Varieties, Error Coin, For Sale, Found in Rolls | Comments Off

Using Diagnostics to Identify Die Varieties : Part 1

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

A Series of Poorly Struck Lincoln Cents

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.

Posted in Collecting, Die Varieties, Error Coin | Comments Off

Using Diagnostics to Identify Die Varieties : Part 3

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

Since Die Varieties can be traced back to individual dies or die pairs, we can use that knowledge to attribute certain die varieties. We can compare one coin to another in order to look for the details that we suspect are characteristics of a particular die variety. Those details are expected to be exactly the same on each coin and if the details are essentially identical then it is possible to establish that a coin was struck by the same die or die pair as another coin. That is what makes a die variety a die variety!

Let me first say that “The Cherrypickers’ Guide to RARE DIE VARIETIES” Fourth Edition – Volume 1, by Fivaz and Stanton as Edited by Mike Ellis, has a notation under this one that suggests a theory of a “well placed die chip”. It is my personal opinion as well as that of many specialists that these 1997 Doubled Ear cents are indeed doubled dies.

1997 Lincoln Cent - Doubled Die Obverse - Doubled Ear

1997 Lincoln Cent - Doubled Die Obverse - Doubled Ear

Note that the extra earlobes to the south of the primary ear lobe, taking into account some slight variance in lighting, are identical on each of these three coins. When looking for the doubled ear 1997 DDO, the ears must look identical to these or it is simply not the right one.

Posted in "Roll Searchers' Newsletter", Coin Care, Collecting, Die Varieties, Error Coin, For Sale | Comments Off

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