As I research the different errors and varieties when checking my change and my collection, I thought I'd create a thread where I will post example photos of errors and varieties I researched in hopes that it will help some of the new folks. I'll be adding more example photos as I find them. My expertise on anything coin is about .0001% and while I'm one of those that prefers to see images rather than reading books, I would highly suggest that new folks getting into this hobby research how the coins are minted, there are short youtube videos that shows you how it's done. Once you have an idea how the coins are struck with dies, you'll have a better understanding of the mint errors that can occur and easily identify and know the difference between a damaged coin vs. a mint error. For starters here's a couple really good photos that helped me understand the difference between machine doubling (shows why knowledgeable people use the term "flat and shelf like") and a true doubled die errors : I'll post some more images of the most common varieties as well specially the small date vs. large dates on memorial coins.
Wide AM (WAM) and Close AM (CAM) : If there's grime/gunk covering the A and AM, I also use the gap between the M and the E...Close AM has a wider gap between those two letters specially towards the top. Just easier for me than checking the gap on the base of the memorial and the artist's initials.
@JayF I like your idea for this thread but I have a suggestion for you. It would be better if you create 2 separate threads, one for only Mint Errors and the other for Varieties. I feel that your thread would be too long to include both and new members would have to go through too much information to get to what they are trying to understand. This is just my opinion.
Thank you for posting these photos. Only thing I would ask if its possible when posting 2 varieties (i.e. Larege Date vs Small Date 1970) is to indicate which one is the rare one.
I was thinking along the lines of "one stop shop" but you could be right, it could become a long thread. I was thinking by putting the dates, it would be searchable from the coin talk search functions. I also don't know how to edit threads, I don't see any delete functions to remove the variety posts from this thread if I was to follow your suggestion. I think only the moderators can delete posts.
Yeah, I thought about that but as I've mentioned, I'm not very knowledgeable on coins, I also wanted it to be just a simple reference for images as new folks normally are not aware of what to look for when they learn about an error or variety. It's good to leave them some researching work...it helps them learn more. I don't chase DDOs/DDRs unless it's obvious to the naked eye or my magnifying glass phone app (so I can take pics of it.)
