Just in case I didn't have enough to do I've started work on the Diagnostic Manual For Circulating United States Coinage. I've been threatening to produce a book for some time. Better now than later.
The primary objective is a reference volume which offers the exacting detail required to accurately and positively identify commonly found errors, varieties, and collectible coins in circulation.
Any reference volume about coins can easily grow to extreme proportions. The scope of this piece will be those issues that are most often asked about in social networks and personal email. The main focus will be on US coins issued since 1965. It will not include proof, gold, or commemmorative issues, but I'm sure to stray. It's hard to put a hold on a good idea.
I have invited a select handful of competent numismatists to contribute to the project. As the work develops, they'll be credited accordingly.
An electronic version of the book as it develops is available online to Patreon supporters of another project: The SAN Database of Die Varieties, an ongoing project that will take several more weeks to become functional. The previous iteration of the SAN Database is still available in an incomplete form. This work, being developed by myself, Shay Hoffmaster, and CJ Langbecker, was being held up by the limited interface offered by Wordpress. Expect much improved progress and announcements to be forthcoming in the next few weeks.
The Diagnostic Manual will explain a number of common errors and varieties with informative articles, diagrams, and photos of examples to give aspiring numismatists an invaluable learning tool. Never knowing when to leave well enough alone I expect one day to change the name to leave out the word "Circulating".
Excerpt from the Introduction Section:
Rather than an attribution catalog, this work is designed to explain those features which support, verify, or debunk a theory explaining the coin.
The community of amateur collectors needs this reference as a vital source of useful information to correctly identify their coins. All too often they are besieged with bad information from questionable sources and leaping to conclusions without using logical reasoning based on empirical evidence in order to reach a sound conclusion. There is a procedure for diagnosing the issue on a coin that does not include Ignorance, Apathy, Stubbornness, or Hope.
It’s the scientific method: Hypothesis-Observation-Conclusion.
“I heard about it on facebook so it must be true” is not good enough. There are specific, measurable, qualifying markers on a coin that will help to support or to debunk the identification of an error or attribution of a variety. Rather than rely on others to tell you what the error or variety on your coin is, learn the methods, procedures, and criteria to make the call yourself, and develop the confidence that what you have determined is the correct conclusion
Special Thanks to my friend Paula Bluhm for the cover image.
For the August Coin Seminar Weekend I produced this video showing a number of coin sales listing that are suspect for one reason or another. Sooner or later a collector is going to outgrow hunting through pocket change and bank rolls and will have to purchase coins to complete a set and grow
their collection. Let's take a close look at some more to give you an idea of what I'm talking about.
2013 Satin Mint Set
First up is a 2013 Mint Set listed on eBay. I cropped and zoomed in on one of the photos.
This Mint Set is in it's original box. The only indicator of the date is the number above the bar code: U13. U = Uncirculated Mint Set. 13 = 2013. The date checks out. The Price is a bit high. Numis shows 2013 Mint Sets with a fair market value of $26 on the day I found this listing. $4 heavy on a $26 purchase is 15% over market value. Compound this with the $8.52 shipping charge. I've worked with these sets before. They fit in a 6x9 padded mailer with additional cardboard for protection and still weigh less than a pound. I could ship this anywhere in the US for $5. $31 should get you this set, shipped. This makes the final price $7.52 higher than reasonable. I like the new blister packaging the Mint switched to in 2008 for Mint Sets but paying 24% too much is not a deal no matter how you look at it. The description says 28 Satin Coins. This is inaccurate. If you have done your homework you'll know Satin coins were produced for Mint Sets from 2005-2010 ONLY. These will be normal business strikes. Does the seller not know or is this an attempt at deception?
Prices will fluctuate. Right now, prices on Mint Sets are down. It's a good time to buy, but at the right price. Shipping is an administrative expense. Charging more shipping than necessary is unfair and unnecessary.
Not a 1910-S
I found this Lincoln Cent listed for sale on USACoinBook as a 1910-S. Problem is, it's not a 1910-S. It appears to be a 1919-S that has been altered.
Several early wheats have lower mintage and draw considerably better prices than common wheats. I've found 1940s wheats that have had the side of the 4 removed to make the coin appear to be a teen.
This one appears to be a 1919-S that has had the last 9 worked in a manner to close it into a loop.
A genuine 1910-S has a round zero and a different mintmark style.
Close examination shows some blemishes on the shoulder consistent with filing off the metal around the VDB, added in 1918.
Top is a genuine 1910-S. Note the round zero and the square outline of the S.
Bottom shows a 2nd 9 with a flat left side and blemish at 7 oclock that is consistent with 2 discontinuous pieces of metal moved close together.
The mintmark has been flattened, probably intentionally. Flattening of the correct mintmark would not result in one this big.
I came across this Stone Mountain Commemmorative Half Dollar while surfing eBay looking for bargains. This one is NOT a bargain. Take a look at the photos, see if you can tell the difference between this one and a genuine specimen.
Q: What's better than finding the secret toy surprise in the bottom of a box of Cracker Jack?
A: Finding a quarter with a W on it.
A couple weeks ago I announced the possible release of West Point Quarters into circulation. How fortunate for my reputation that this turned out to be true! The US Mint made the announcement on April 2: They are out there.
They should start showing up in banks within the next couple of weeks. One fellow commented on a video by Blue Ridge Silver Hound that he had found 4 already. It's still a bit early for that and the fellow has yet to verify his claim with photos. Unless those photos show up I call BS. The time it takes for coins fresh from the mint to move through distribution networks to reach local banks suggest the first W-Quarters will be available starting around the third week in April. The coins are being mixed with Philadelphia AND Denver quarters and are available ONLY in circulation. The US Mint will not be offering these quarters for sale.
Let the hunt begin!
That video by Blue Ridge Silver hound mentioned above is where I learned of the bounty offered by PCGS: $5000 for the 1st West Point Lowell Quarter to be submitted for certification.
In addition to the First Discovery, they'll be offering special holders with First week of Discovery and Early Discovery pedigrees. I suppose all the hubbub and excitement of people submitting a pile of coins in the next month will allow PCGS to recoup the bounty.
REWARD!
I have also offered a reward for the 1st West Point Quarter donated to The BIG Show: a 2001 Proof Set!
I'll enhance that offer to allow a choice from several potential items, just in case the winner already has that proof set. I just have to clean up the desk a bit to find some good stuff.
Meanwhile the quarter will be added to the BIG Show Package and some lucky viewer will win it.
What Will They Be Worth?
Aside from the first discovery submitted to PCGS that will bring the owner a fat payday, the big question everyone is wondering is what sort of premium these coins will fetch?
Each of these 5 America The Beautiful quarters with the West Point mintmark will be limited to a production run of 2 million units. This will put them tied in 205th place for least produced Washington Quarters. See Mintage Chart below. This makes them hardly a rarity. As business strikes go, they will be a bit less common, with only 1932 D, 1932-S, and 1937-S being produced in fewer numbers.
What we'll see is a burst in value as collectors seek to complete their sets. There will be some speculation as these coins are found, certified, promoted, and hyped. Much of the value will be novelty in the first weeks after discovery.
I remember the discovery of the 1995 Doubled Die DDO-001 (CONECA) and all the fuss. Articles in Numismatic News, lots of talk on the early internet chat groups. It even made the cover of COINS Magazine. These things were HOT! I recall prices reaching into the 4 digits when it was first discovered. Over time, as more specimens were found, prices cooled. Nowadays, Superb certified specimens can be picked up for less than $100.
The Mint has never been all that great at promoting its products and even less great at putting out a decent product. Most of the quarters that find their way into circulation will be overlooked by an apathetic public. It's the collectors in the know who will be furiously hunting these quarters down. Perhaps media exposure will put people on alert for later issues this year but with 2 weeks notice and a media more concerned with celebrities and politicians, this special issue has already seen most of the fanfare its going to get. We can always hope for a 15 second sound bite late at night during a 24 hour news channel looking for a human interest story after a neti pot commercial.
It will be the coin roll hunters and coin dealers who will hunt these coins down. Upon finding one you can take comfort in knowing these folks will run out to purchase every last quarter roll in town they can get their hands on in the hopes of building some inventory. What they don't grab will work their way into circulation to be scraped, smudged, and screwed up forever. It won't take but a couple weeks for the circulated specimens to take on all those nicks and dings that make us cringe and weep. I project 2 classes of resulting coinage: Minty Fresh, straight out of the roll and well protected, and the run of the mill stuff. These will be separated by 2 weeks of circulation.
I made a video last night picking through a brand spanking new roll of 2016 pennies. Fact of the matter is most of the coins in these new rolls won't make MS65. Looking at PCGS and NGC population reports for Mint State modern coins, MS67 and higher are few and far between, and many of those were from Mint Sets, Mint Rolls, and maybe a mint bag here and there. These West Point quarters have already lost most of the high grade examples during their trip from the Mint to their designated targets. Many have yet to be sacrificed to the coin rolling machine demons and every overexcited 12 year old coin roll hunter with no gloves
Coins above MS66 will command a handsome premium. I've heard estimates of hundreds to the low thousands. That would be consistent with what we see in other issues. Perhaps the Novelty Premium will add another 20%. The hunters and dealers will save tens of thousands of coins fresh from the rolls. They'll be good for $5-10 based on the mintage figures. Circulated specimens, of which I expect the lions share of production will end up as will offer little numismatic value. Their greatest value will be in attracting new collectors to the hobby.
In my opinion, that makes them PRICELESS!
That's my 2¢.
Happy Hunting and Good Luck.
Mintage Chart for Washington Quarters through rank 205
Rank
Date/MM
Mintage
1
1964
SMS
50
2
1936
Proof
3837
3
1937
Proof
5542
4
1938
Proof
8045
5
1939
Proof
8795
6
1940
Proof
11246
7
1941
Proof
15287
8
1942
Proof
21123
9
1950
Proof
51386
10
1951
Proof
57500
11
1952
Proof
81980
12
1953
Proof
128800
13
1954
Proof
233300
14
1955
Proof
378200
15
1932 S
408000
16
1932 D
436800
17
2012 S
ELY Silver Proof
557891
18
2012 S
CHA Silver Proof
557891
19
2012 S
ACA Silver Proof
557891
20
2012 S
VLC Silver Proof
557891
21
2012 S
DEN Silver Proof
557891
22
2013 S
WHM Silver Proof
579409
23
2013 S
PVY Silver Proof
579409
24
2013 S
BAS Silver Proof
579409
25
2013 S
FMH Silver Proof
579409
26
2013 S
RSH Silver Proof
579409
27
2010 P
HOT Satin
583897
28
2010 D
HOT Satin
583897
29
2010 P
YST Satin
583897
30
2010 D
YST Satin
583897
31
2010 P
YOS Satin
583897
32
2010 D
YOS Satin
583897
33
2010 P
CAN Satin
583897
34
2010 D
CAN Satin
583897
35
2010 P
MHD Satin
583897
36
2010 D
MHD Satin
583897
37
1956
Proof
669384
38
1995 S
Silver Proof
679985
39
2011 S
GTB Silver Proof
722076
40
2011 S
GLA Silver Proof
722076
41
2011 S
OLY Silver Proof
722076
42
2011 S
VKB Silver Proof
722076
43
2011 S
CHK Silver Proof
722076
44
1997 S
Silver Proof
741678
45
2008 P
OK Satin
745464
46
2008 D
OK Satin
745464
47
2008 P
NM Satin
745464
48
2008 D
NM Satin
745464
49
2008 P
AZ Satin
745464
50
2008 D
AZ Satin
745464
51
2008 P
AK Satin
745464
52
2008 D
AK Satin
745464
53
2008 P
HI Satin
745464
54
2008 D
HI Satin
745464
55
1993 S
Silver Proof
761353
56
1996 S
Silver Proof
775021
57
2009 P
DC Satin
784614
58
2009 D
DC Satin
784614
59
2009 P
PR Satin
784614
60
2009 D
PR Satin
784614
61
2009 P
GU Satin
784614
62
2009 D
GU Satin
784614
63
2009 P
AS Satin
784614
64
2009 D
AS Satin
784614
65
2009 P
VI Satin
784614
66
2009 D
VI Satin
784614
67
2009 P
MP Satin
784614
68
2009 D
MP Satin
784614
69
1994 S
Silver Proof
785329
70
1999 S
DE Silver Proof
804565
71
1999 S
PA Silver Proof
804565
72
1999 S
NJ Silver Proof
804565
73
1999 S
GA Silver Proof
804565
74
1999 S
CT Silver Proof
804565
75
2006 P
NV Satin
847361
76
2006 D
NV Satin
847361
77
2006 P
NE Satin
847361
78
2006 D
NE Satin
847361
79
2006 P
CO Satin
847361
80
2006 D
CO Satin
847361
81
2006 P
ND Satin
847361
82
2006 D
ND Satin
847361
83
2006 P
SD Satin
847361
84
2006 D
SD Satin
847361
85
2010 S
HOT Silver Proof
859435
86
2010 S
YST Silver Proof
859435
87
2010 S
YOS Silver Proof
859435
88
2010 S
CAN Silver Proof
859435
89
2010 S
MHD Silver Proof
859435
90
1958
Proof
875652
91
1998 S
Silver Proof
878792
92
2001 S
NY Silver Proof
889697
93
2001 S
NC Silver Proof
889697
94
2001 S
RI Silver Proof
889697
95
2001 S
VT Silver Proof
889697
96
2001 S
KY Silver Proof
889697
97
2002 S
TN Silver Proof
892229
98
2002 S
OH Silver Proof
892229
99
2002 S
LA Silver Proof
892229
100
2002 S
IN Silver Proof
892229
101
2002 S
MS Silver Proof
892229
102
2007 P
MT Satin
895628
103
2007 D
MT Satin
895628
104
2007 P
WA Satin
895628
105
2007 D
WA Satin
895628
106
2007 P
ID Satin
895628
107
2007 D
ID Satin
895628
108
2007 P
WY Satin
895628
109
2007 D
WY Satin
895628
110
2007 P
UT Satin
895628
111
2007 D
UT Satin
895628
112
2013 S
FMH Proof
911451
113
2013 S
BAS Proof
911525
114
2013 S
PVY Proof
913563
115
2013 S
RSH Proof
920695
116
2013 S
WHM Proof
950080
117
2012 S
DEN Proof
957856
118
2012 S
CHA Proof
960049
119
2012 S
ACA Proof
960409
120
2012 S
VLC Proof
961272
121
2000 S
MA Silver Proof
965421
122
2000 S
MY Silver Proof
965421
123
2000 S
SC Silver Proof
965421
124
2000 S
NH Silver Proof
965421
125
2000 S
VA Silver Proof
965421
126
2009 S
DC Silver Proof
996548
127
2009 S
PR Silver Proof
996548
128
2009 S
GU Silver Proof
996548
129
2009 S
AS Silver Proof
996548
130
2009 S
VI Silver Proof
996548
131
2009 S
MP Silver Proof
996548
132
2012 S
ELY Proof
1010361
133
2008 S
HI Silver Proof
1020768
134
2003 S
IL Silver Proof
1125755
135
2003 S
AL Silver Proof
1125755
136
2003 S
ME Silver Proof
1125755
137
2003 S
MO Silver Proof
1125755
138
2003 S
AR Silver Proof
1125755
139
2014 S
EVG Uncirculated
1139140
140
2014 S
DUN Uncirculated
1146000
141
1959
Proof
1149291
142
2005 P
CA Satin
1160000
143
2005 D
CA Satin
1160000
144
2005 P
MN Satin
1160000
145
2005 D
MN Satin
1160000
146
2005 P
OR Satin
1160000
147
2005 D
OR Satin
1160000
148
2005 P
KS Satin
1160000
149
2005 D
KS Satin
1160000
150
2005 P
WV Satin
1160000
151
2005 D
WV Satin
1160000
152
2008 S
OK Silver Proof
1192908
153
2008 S
NM Silver Proof
1192908
154
2008 S
AZ Silver Proof
1192908
155
2008 S
AK Silver Proof
1192908
156
2014 S
ARC Uncirculated
1203100
157
2014 S
SHN Uncirculated
1239320
158
1957
Proof
1247952
159
2011 S
CHK Proof
1266010
160
2011 S
OLY Proof
1267361
161
2011 S
VKB Proof
1267691
162
2011 S
GLA Proof
1268452
163
2011 S
GTB Proof
1271553
164
2007 S
MT Silver Proof
1313481
165
2007 S
WA Silver Proof
1313481
166
2007 S
ID Silver Proof
1313481
167
2007 S
WY Silver Proof
1313481
168
2007 S
UT Silver Proof
1313481
169
2013 S
FMH Uncirculated
1314740
170
2013 S
BAS Uncirculated
1316580
171
1992 S
Silver Proof
1317579
172
2014 S
GSM Uncirculated
1360780
173
2013 S
RSH Uncirculated
1373260
174
2012 S
CHA Uncirculated
1389020
175
2010 S
MHD Proof
1397101
176
2010 S
CAN Proof
1399970
177
2010 S
YOS Proof
1400215
178
2010 S
HOT Proof
1401903
179
2012 S
DEN Uncirculated
1401920
180
2010 S
YST Proof
1402756
181
2012 S
VLC Uncirculated
1407520
182
2012 S
ACA Uncirculated
1409120
183
2013 S
PVY Uncirculated
1425860
184
2006 S
NV Silver Proof
1585008
185
2006 S
NE Silver Proof
1585008
186
2006 S
CO Silver Proof
1585008
187
2006 S
ND Silver Proof
1585008
188
2006 S
SD Silver Proof
1585008
189
2013 S
WHM Uncirculated
1606900
190
1937 S
1652000
191
2005 S
CA Silver Proof
1678649
192
2005 S
MN Silver Proof
1678649
193
2005 S
OR Silver Proof
1678649
194
2005 S
KS Silver Proof
1678649
195
2005 S
WV Silver Proof
1678949
196
2012 S
ELY Uncirculated
1679240
197
1960
Proof
1691602
198
1996 S
Proof
1750244
199
2004 S
MI Silver Proof
1769786
200
2004 S
FL Silver Proof
1769786
201
2004 S
TX Silver Proof
1769786
202
2004 S
IA Silver Proof
1769786
203
2004 S
WI Silver Proof
1769786
204
1967
SMS
1800000
205
2019-W
Lowell
2000000
205
2019-W
AMP
2000000
205
2019-W
Pacific
2000000
205
2019-W
San Antonio
2000000
205
2019-W
Frank Church
2000000
The full chart has 642 different Washington Quarters and I have yet to add all the 2019 PDS issues. More charts
