There are all manner of scams by people looking to cash in on collectors who do not know markers for ultra rarities. And when it comes to the 1982-D Small Date Bronze transitional error, there is a desperation by newbies educated by clickbait social media that the third example is out there in pocket change.
Sellers take advantage of such ignorance.
If you are interested in an article about the various types of 1982 cents, including all markers for the transitional error, click here.
But let’s cut to the chase with basic knowledge.
Only two 1982-D Small Date 3.1 grams have been found.
Here’s how they look close up.
Here are markers for the small date.
DO NOT bid or buy any coin that is placed on a scale reading 3.1. You’ll be buying a zinc small date, of little or no value. Or a coin on tinkered scale.
You will see several examples on eBay of sellers showing a regular 1982-D large date bronze cent in a PCGS holder. Sellers think if they claim a regular strike is the small date, you’ll believe it, only because it is holdered by PCGS and you don’t know the markers.
Here’s an example:
Here’s how to decipher.
There are two numbers below the condition. In this case below, 146021.58, means two things: 146021 goes to the CoinFacts designation and the 58, the condition, AU58. In the image below, you can see that the 146021 goes to the regular large date strike.
Here’s another example with the seller claiming this large date is a small date. Again, the 146021 gives it away.
The seller of the above coin did not take kindly to my message that this is a scam.
He doesn’t like his time being wasted. He just wants to waste your money.
Ultra rarities are not found in pocket change; when one is, that becomes a national news story. If you think you found one, do not post it on social media and claim authenticity. If you are so sure, send it to PCGS, NGC, ANACS or CAC. And if you want to buy an ultra rarity, make sure you know how to read the holder company label.
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You can find more information about types, varieties, errors, grading, bidding and buying in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider buying or gifting the work for a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist blog. Thank you.
Recently a Facebook coin group member posted a notice stating that he had found the coveted 1982-D Small Date bronze cent–verified by PCGS! Only two have been discovered, in 1916 and 1919, although social media has used the rarity to lure newbies into thinking that have the variety or that it can easily be found.
Here is what he wrote:
“This right here is for everyone that doubted me … chew that up and swallow it. no I’m not gonna be a jerk. I’m super excited. I have proved the 1982D small date with the weak D mint mark and a QDO. And a TDR it has now been verified and authenticated by PCGS as a new variety.”
He provided this proof:
Some 180 Facebook coin group members commented on his post. Here’s a snippet with Tyler Broughton noting the inconsistencies of his supposed PCGS email:
True, the person may be just hoping his submission brings the desired result. We all have been there. But what to make of the letter? It is seemingly informed and may have convinced viewers that indeed, the person did find the rarity. Many commentators congratulated him on his lottery-level find.
Without divulging his name, or the Facebook post and email, I contacted PCGS. A representative confirmed that the company would never send an email like this in advance of encapsulation. There is no Express/Gold service level. There is no Variety/Plus team (that’s NGC). Neither would it divulge internal means of certification.
Let’s take a breath.
It may be that this person indeed found a rarity. For his sake, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he so believes in his diagnostics that he is sharing the good news before he gets any news. That, however, is not the point of this article. This is: How do we as hobbyists deal with a verification email that might sway us to believe that a coin, indeed, is an ultra rarity? Suppose we saw an email like this on a coin that we might want to purchase? Is this a new way to fool hobbyists?
Let’s see if AI can pretend to be from PCGS and report a rare find.
I used ChatGPT. I fed AI a few basic facts, the rarity, the date of submission, the service level and a few other details. It took me 2 minutes. Here’s what I received:
This is a chilling discovery–not of a rarity–but of how a rarity can be disguised with a fake email or letter, courtesy of AI. I won’t do this, but I could have found PCGS letterhead and pasted the above there. I could invent an email from PCGS–even with an employee name. I could no any number of things, and machine intelligence would help me.
We as hobbyists have to be on top of every new method to beguile us. This may only be the start with AI providing fictional text, video and images of our fondest numismatic desires.
If you like posts like this, subscribe so you can be informed whenever there is a new article or column.
Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups and other social media. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.
You can find more information about types, varieties, errors, grading, bidding and buying in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider buying or gifting the work for a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist blog. Thank you.
Clickbait social media sites have tricked new coin collectors into believing they can find ultra rarities in pocket change and bank rolls. What are the odds?
We’ll calculate those odds later. But here’s the list of what you in all likelihood will never find:
1974-D Aluminum Cent
1943-D Copper Cent
1944-S Steel Cent
1982-D Small Date 3.1 grams
1943-S Copper Cent
1944-D Steel Cent
1983/83-D Copper Cent
2000 Sacagawea Mule
1944 Steel Cent
1943 Copper Cent
1969-S DDO Cent
1971-D DDO Cent
Social media scammers also proclaim “no mintmark” coins are rarities. No mintmark means minted in Philadelphia; missing mintmark is the rarity. Again, later in the article, we will show you just how many of these rarities are believed minted:
1968 No S Proof Dime
1990 No S Lincoln Cent
1970 No S Roosevelt Proof Dime
1975 No S Roosevelt Proof Dime
1983 No S Roosevelt Proof Dime
1971 No S Jefferson Proof Nickel
1976 No S Eisenhower Proof Dollar
1982 No P Mintmark
But not to despair! There are hundreds of findable rarities in rolls and pocket change. They won’t make you rich, but will make you a coin collector–a true hobbyist–who knows how to spend time wisely.
Clickbait Social Media
Scammers on Facebook and YouTube foster the belief you can get rich and retire with pocket change.
Here’s a sample YouTube video:
There are only 5 known 1943-S Copper Cents. People have been checking their change and bank rolls for 70 years. To calculate odds of your finding one, factor this: some 125 million Americans consider themselves coin collectors to some degree. Twenty percent of Millennials, or 14.5 million, have taken a keen interest in numismatics.
New collectors have purchased coin microscopes and visit TikTok, Google, YouTube, eBay, Facebook and other social media venues, believing they can strike it rich by checking their change at the grocery store or making several trips to the bank for rolls.
Now consider the past 50-70 years of Americans collecting coins and looking for ultra rarities like 1943 copper cents or 1944 steel ones. What do you think the odds are of your finding one of them?
Now factor the hundreds of thousands of fake ultra rarities exported to the US by China. These often find themselves in rolls and auctions. Etsy, an American company flooded with Chinese sellers, and Temu, a Chinese company, also have saturated the coin market place with replicas. See this article for examples.
AI Calculates Odds
In addition to being a numismatist, I am a distinguished professor (actual title) emeritus at an institution of science and technology. My research specialty is artificial intelligence. I fed data into several sites and databases to calculate the odds of your finding one of these treasures.
In the table below, you will see those top 12 rarest coins and their values along with the odds of your finding one in pocket change or bank rolls.
Brace yourself:
Social media is undermining the hobby along with Chinese counterfeiters who count on your not knowing die markers for rarities. If you don’t, you can spend thousands on replicas.
Some examples:
Just consider the 1943-S restrike copper cent offerings on Etsy:
eBay scammers buy these restrikes and then list them as ultra rarities. Here’s an example:
You also can find “missing mintmark” rarities in online auctions
Missing Mintmarks
The Philadelphia Mint did not use a mint mark on coins until 1980, with the exception of the 1979 Susan B. Anthony dollar, 1942-45 35% silver Jefferson war nickels, and the 2017 Lincoln 225th anniversary cent.
Here’s another table about how many missing mint mark coins are believed to have been released into circulation.
Here are tactics of counterfeiters and scammers:
Altering Normal Coins: Forgers might take a regular dime and try to remove the mintmark.
Tooling: Look for signs of filing or polishing where the mintmark should be.
Fake “No-S” Proofs: A common tactic is to take a regular business strike (like a 1970-S) and try to remove the ‘S’ to pass it off as the rare proof version.
There are hundreds of varieties and error coins that hobbyists still can find in pocket change in bank rolls and that are holdered by PCGS, NGC and ANACS. For a comprehensive list, click here.
Coin collecting is in part about value and investment. The difference between now and past decades is where new hobbyists are getting misinformation. In the past, most numismatists embraced the hobby because of the history, art, culture and metallurgy of coins, medals and paper money.
That is why Proxiblog recommends these three articles for new hobbyists:
If you like posts like this, subscribe so you can be informed whenever there is a new article or column.
Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups, YouTube and social media. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.
You can find more information about types, varieties, errors, grading, bidding and buying in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider buying or gifting the work for a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist blog. Thank you.
