Hi, Does anyone have any knowledge about 1971 Denver mint set errors? I have purchsed a pair of Denver and Philadelphia mint sets from PCS (a reputable coin seller). The Kenedy half dollar in the Denver mint is missing the mint mark (D) below the bust. It looks just like the Philadelphia Kenedy half dollar. It is still sealed so there is no evidence of it being tampered with.
Maybe it is the Philly Kennedy (just a holder error)? Can't make a more definite comment without seeing some pictures.
I will get you some pictures later. But is there any record or knowledge of this kind of error occuring? I know that the 1971-S proof set has a missing s mint mark on the Jefferson nickel.
It's possible that a grease filled die obscured the mint mark. I haven't heard of the mint set being known for missing the mint mark like the proof. My understanding is the proof used a Philadelphia obverse die which was modified to be a proof but the mint mark was forgotten. So, one die constantly produced coins without a MM. I'd be willing to bet this is a case of a grease filled die which wouldn't have been a consistently missing MM.
Shansen, I have done some looking, even pulled my sets out. I can't find anything that mentions any kind of mint error for this year in the unc sets. Your packaging looks legit, although I think that your blue cardboard holder that the mint set is in, is after market production and not produced by the mint. I have seen them before, but I do not believe they were issued by the mint. Second, it could be that if the entire set was put together by a third party, that it simply could be a mis-placed Philly half dollar into a Denver set or it could be a grease filled MM like CamaroDMD suggests. I will keep looking, but I don't have a good answer for you right now.
Well I need to thank Shansen very much for getting me to look for this possible error. During my search, I was looking at my Cherrypickers guide and my Kennedy half sets and I found that I had a very nice 1971 DDO - The coin was as pictured in the book. It is the FS-50-1971D-102. There is a 101, but that doubling is limited mostly to "GOD WE TRUST", whereas the 102 has it across the entire "IN GOD WE TRUST" Motto. Very exciting!
I have been in contact with the seller of the mint set. Yes this is a thrid party reseller (PCS). http://www.pcscoins.com/collectibles/ They have reasured me that they take the sealed mints sets directly from the mint and place them in the panel and do not tamper with these as they are a reputable coin reseller. Thank You for your research. I am going to take this one step further to CONECA and see what they think. Who do you suggest I get an a thrid opinion from?
The coins are still in their original mint cellophane packaging, but just repackaged in a third party package. And yes it should have the red strip at the bottom, but it is covered by this outter third part packaging. I do believe that the set has not been tampered with, but with modern technology, you can never rule it out. As far as getting a confirmation on the item and confirming your find, send an email with your pictures to qdbarchive@metrocast.net (David Bowers). If he can't help you, maybe he can direct you to someone who can. Good luck and please keep us posted so we can share in your excited.
Thank You jaceravone....I am going to take your advise and send an e-mail to David Bowers. I have been in contact with CONECA about this same issue and they are saying that if I can prove that it is in the original packaging and shows no tampering, It may be an exciting discovery. Is there any other tip or trick to check and see which mint it is from. Denver mint verses the Phildelphia Mint? (some mark or indicator)
Exactly what collector1966 said. I just don't know how they can show that it hasn't been tampered with, especially with all the modern technology. It would probably be a really good assuption that if someone was doing it to be deceptive and sell it for tons of money that you would have bought it for tons of money, but by the sound of things, you got it for a deal. Right? The seller didn't sell it to you for lots of money saying that it was an error, right?
Why don't you take the set out of the blue panel and see if it has been tampered with? Larry Nienaber
Update to the story: I have removed the mint sets from the third part packaging. I have photographed them again so that yo can see the original governement packaging. It clearly shows that the red and blue stripes are there and that it has NOT been tampered with.