Tag Archives: error-coins

1936 Double Die Cent Types

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The 1936 doubled die cent is intriguing because it is rare but still discoverable in pocket change and bank rolls. PCGS has only graded a total of about 150 examples in all grades combined in over twenty years. The doubling on this coin is significant and can easily be seen with the naked eye. However, there are three different doubled dies for this year and mint mark.

PCGS’s Jamie Hernandez compares this coin to the well-known 1917 doubled die, saying the 1936 types are scarcer but still out there in Wheat Cent hoards. “Surprisingly,” he writes, “the 1936 Doubled Die Type 1 is significantly more dramatic than the 1917 Doubled Die by a long shot.”

Take a look:

The doubling on the “6” in particular is dramatic.

Here are the two other major types, again compliments of the PCGS CoinFacts website:

The “6” is still readily visible but less sharp and somewhat mushy, as are all the other doubled dates and letters of this type.

Type 3 is less mushy but also somewhat faint.

As for value, again that will depend on condition. In F12, Type 1 retails for about $50; Type 2, $25; and Type 3, $10. In low mint state, the types go for hundreds of dollars and in high mint state, thousands.

Go to the PCGS CoinFacts site for specific dollar values according to numerical grades.

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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.

Fabulously Toned Peace Dollars

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While many new hobbyists are searching fruitlessly for the clickbait 1943 copper cent, the 1982-D Small Date 3.1 gram cent, and the 1992/1992-D Close AM, veteran collectors are scouring coin albums of estate auctions to find toned Peace dollars, which sell multiples times their values when holdered by a reputable company.

This is a somewhat new phenomenon.

In 2009, PCGS co-founder David Hall insisted that any Peace dollar with “rainbow colors (blue, red, green, etc.) is absolutely artificially toned. While not very scientific, my approach to toning on coins is to remember the colors I saw in the 1960s and 1970s and if a new look appears, it’s artificial to me.”

Until about 10 years ago, I, too, believed that statement. Most PCGS and NGC toned Peace dollars were gray, spottily streaked or tarnished. Slowly, however, raw uncirculated 1922 Peace dollar in particular started to tone in beautiful light or spotted colors.

This one, in 2018, sold for $8,812.50. Its retail value then was about $550.

Morgan dollars, of course, tone beautifully across the series (1878-1904/21). I investigated that years ago in an article for Coin World, noting that planchets of Peace dollars likely had fewer impurities than Morgan dollars.

It seems that those scant impurities are finally triggering patina, especially 1922 samples. Here are a few 1922s from my private bank-boxed collection.

Now it is possible to find any year of the series (1921-35) with some or even spectacular toning. The 1926-S also is a frequent toner:

The problem now are coin doctors of various skills heating, chemically treating and otherwise sulfurating Peace dollars. All you have to do is search “rainbow Peace dollars” on eBay, and this is what you might find:

Note that no Peace dollar, or silver coin, for that matter, looks that carnival splotchy color.

If you are looking to purchase an uncertified toned Peace dollar, pay particular attention to the colors and patterns on previously holdered ones by PCGS and NGC. Do a search. Certified examples should have the blue, gold, orange, blue and red colors of the ones featured above.

The coin dealer APMEX has good tips to discern fake toning:

  • The toning has bright colors, as you would find in a box of crayons.
  • Toning appears to “float” on the surface, rather than having greater depth.
  • The toning appears yellow-brown or smoky. This indicates the use of cigar or cigarette smoke, common among artificially toned coins.
  • The toning occurs over hairline marks.

The hunt for naturally toned coins, especially Peace Dollars, is more satisfying than the search for ultra rare errors. And those dollars show much better too to friends, club members and Facebook coin groups.

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Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups and across 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.

The futile hunt for ultra rarities

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Every day in Facebook coin groups there is the ridiculous hunt for ultra rare errors–1992/92-D Close AM, 1982-D Small Date bronze cent, 1983/83-D bronze cents–with members continuously believing they have struck it rich and found valuable flaws.

These posts try the patience of hobbyists who want to promote coin collecting. Clickbaiters on social media continue to emphasize how easily these rarities can be found in pocket change, no less.

Here’s an example:

Also, while we are at it, there is no collector market for minor errors like broad struck, struck through grease, machine doubling, minor hub doubling, etc. You are never going to find the 1982-D Small Date 3.1 grams. It was theorized decades ago, and a few found some. Collectors have been searching for decades before counterfeiters sold their wares on Etsy.

Some clickbait-inspired collectors are so frustrated that they have found means to claim they have found a rarity. One Facebook coin group member photographed the obverse of a 1992-D Wide AM with the reverse of a common 1996-D Close AM–two coins in the same high-grade condition–and then claimed he found the rarity.

Recently, someone claimed to have been informed by PCGS that he not only found a 1982-D bronze small date but also an error on it in addition, qualifying as a new discovery. Proxiblog demonstrated how someone can use ChatGPT to create a fake email from PCGS affirming just about anything you wish. Click here for the article.

Here’s an example that Proxiblog created:

Nevertheless, newbie collectors continue their futile searches. They go to eBay and see ridiculous listings. See examples below with the real condition followed by the eBay scam exaggeration:

POST MINT DAMAGE: Face Value

WEAR: Face Value

STRUCK THROUGH GREASE: $25

COPPER COATED ZINC: Face Value

And then we get the dozen or so posts per day claiming to have found the 1982-D Small Date transitional error at 3.1 grams. Note, too, that the seller says “errors” without designating any. He even betrays himself by weighing the coin for all to see:

Coin collecting is not exclusively about finding errors and rare varieties. Valuable ones have been found decades ago, such as the 1955 double die obverse cent.

The value of the hobby is the hobby. Coin collecting is expensive. Smart collectors admire the design, the luster, the history, the metal–7 things that make coins valuable.

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 across social media. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.

You can find more information about grading, scams, and bidding and buying on eBay 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.