You probably know about the famous 1937-D Three-Legged Nickel and maybe even the 1936-D 3 1/2-Legged Nickel. (If not, you can learn about them here.) But did you know about the rarity 1913 3-1/2 Legged Buffalo Nickel (Type 1)?
All three of these desired varieties happened because of polishing of the dies in an attempt to lengthen the life of the working die. As a result, parts of the buffalo’s legs have been removed.
The 1913 3-1/2 Nickel is missing much of the front leg. It is not nearly as obvious as the 1937-D Three-Legged coin.
Ron Guth, a long-time PCGS chronicler, writes, “This is a rare variety that has proven to be difficult to find in most grades.” He notes that a PCGS MS64 “splashed onto the market in 2003 and sold for $19,550 at auction. A year later, an NGC MS65 sold at auction for $47,437.50. In early 2017, PCGS certified an MS66 example which has yet to come to market (as of 2/2017).”
Those values are less today as more have been found. But they are still pricey!
Now that we know about its history, let’s take a look at the markers. Below is a beautiful MS64 example.
You want to look above the “I” in “FIVE.”
Here’s an expanded example:
As always, be wary of others selling worn examples of a regular 1913 Type I Nickel and calling it 3 1/2 legs, as below:
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Die polish lines look like cleaning hairlines and album slide marks, but there are distinct differences, discussed here. Die polish lines meant to extend the life of a working die have no effect on straight grading. Album slide marks, if light, may lower a straight grade because of eye appeal or may disqualify it if significant. Hairlines earn a Details grade from major holdering companies.
Let’s look at the difference and similarity here:
To understand the difference, you need to know how coins are made. Lines from die polish, done to preserve the life of the working die, are raised. In other words, the metal from the striking process fills in the lines and raises them. Lines from cleaning and album slide marks are not raised and dig into the metal surface.
You should never clean a coin with any kind of abrasive. When you do, you get hairlines. Slide marks occur when plastic covers are inserted and removed from Dansco and similar albums:
Another difference: Die polish lines do not go over nearby devices. See how the lines do not run into Jefferson’s profile on this nickel:
This 1870 dollar has been harshly cleaned, with hairlines going over devices. The same effect occurs with slide marks; however, the lines typically are straight rather than irregular. See the difference:
As you can see, hairlines not only go over devices but are curved and irregular. Slide marks go over devices but are usually more uniform as the plastic cover slides out in a uniform manner.
PCGS considers slide marks a common form of unintentional, secondary handling rather than deliberate alteration or harsh cleaning; as such, they do not trigger an automatic “Details” grade. If the lines are shallow, faint and not in key areas, the coin will straight grade with a lower numerical grade. However, if the plastic panels dragged debris across the coin, you probably will get a scratch/Details grade.
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There are many reasons to submit coins for crossover service: You might have coins in lesser-tier holders. You might want to change companies for set registries. Or perhaps your holdered coin is damaged or cracked, giving you a reason to try another company. Maybe you have a coveted green PCGS first generation holder and now want to try for a higher grade at NGC.
We will be addressing those questions and discussing here the two major holdering companies, PCGS and NGC. If you are interested in ANACS crossover service, click here for more information. CAC? Click here.
Crossovers require that you have a coin in a holder with some sort of certification and grade. Before giving the details for PCGS/NGC services, refresh yourself with lower-tier companies. This article describes second, third and bottom-tier slabbing companies.
PCGS has a nifty visual explaining how to cross over any coin in a certified holder.
Coins must be pre-graded by that other company, completely sealed. The form to fill out your crossover is on the dark blue “Crossover Now” tab. But before you submit, know what you will need to do.
These are you options:
You can request that your coin be the same grade as on the label.
Or you can request any numerical grade on the Sheldon 1-70 scale.
If your coin has a flaw, such as cleaning, you must decide whether you want a PCGS Details label spelling out the problem.
Finally, you can request a specific grade higher or lower than what is on the label.
If PCGS holders your coin, it will crack it out of your slab. If it doesn’t meet the company’s standards, you will get it back with your original holder.
NGC only considers coins graded by PCGS for its crossover service. You will be asked to state your minimum grade. If NGC agrees, it will automatically remove the coin from the PCGS holder. If the coin fails to meet NGC standards, it will be returned to the submitter in its original PCGS holder. The full NGC grading fee will apply.
What if you have coin from another service and still want to cross over to NGC? Your coin is not eligible for crossover. However, NGC states that it can remove coins from these holders when submissions are accompanied by a coin removal consent form, which must accompany the submission form.
Of course, you do not have to submit your holdered coins for crossover service. You can crack them out of the old holder and just submit your coins as raw. Experienced hobbyists know how to crack open a holder. Proxiblog will not explain how because injuries are possible from the shards of plastic. Some can literally burst and injure your eyes.
If you don’t know how to do, please do not try.
Finally, a word about old green PCGS holders, which you can submit to NGC for a new grade and label. The myth about those green holders is that they were undergraded in the late 1980s. Many were, and these were long since crossed over or submitted for a regrade.
The green holder grades are inconsistent. Some were undergraded. Some were overgraded. And some had flaws that current graders would catch.
Here are two green-holdered PCGS coins that were sent to NGC.
As you can see, the DMPL designation was lost on both in the transfer. One point higher for the 1879. I lost hundreds of dollars.
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Officially known as 1935 Doubled Die Obverse (DDO) FS-101 variety, this coin has significant doubling, especially on the date, and is sought after by collectors.
You also can see doubling on the letters of “IN GOD WE TRUST” as well as the left portion of the motto LIBERTY.
If you look closely, you can see a doubled eyelid on the portrait.
This is the type of doubling that can be strong, if early in the manufacturing process, or weaker as the working die deteriorates.
Also, in those late-stage examples, the doubling can look flat. So many people attribute those to machine doubling. Example:
As for value, PCGS CoinFacts factors the color of the coin (Brown, Red-Brown, or Red) and its grade.
Well-circulated examples can be found on eBay for under $50. High grade red examples authenticated by PCGS sell for hundreds and even thousands.
This coin sold at auction for $3055.
If buying a raw example from eBay or online auctions, be sure to distinguish doubled die from die deterioration, as in this case:
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With the 2026 Semiquincentennial President Donald J. Trump $1 Coin, people are having a renewed interest in presidential dollars. Trump was not part of the series. Launched in 2007, the series requires a president to have been deceased for at least two years to appear on a coin. Trump got around this requirement as his is a commemorative coin.
A hallmark of the presidential series is edge lettering.
Depending on the year the coin was minted, these elements appear on the edge: year of minting, mintmark and “E Pluribus Unum.”
In 2007 and 2008, presidential dollars also included “In God We Trust.”
That brings us to one of the major varieties.
Godless Dollar
“In God We Trust” was moved to the obverse of these dollars in 2009 after a backlash occurred when edge letting was missing on the 2007 George Washington dollar. People started calling this variety “Godless dollars.”
The error happened when the machine that strikes the edge lettering somehow malfunctioned, leaving the edge blank. That started the furor over US coins lacking any mention of a supreme being.
Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.)responded to the backlash by introducing an amendment to a federal appropriations bill. The amendment was part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008, ordering the U.S. Mint to move “In God We Trust” to either the obverse or reverse of all future Presidential dollars. The law took effect in 2009.
An average uncirculated 2007–2008 Godless Dollar is typically worth $40 to $100, while heavily circulated examples sell for around $15 to $30.
Faceless Dollar
Also in 2007-2008 some coins on blank planchets escaped the Mint. These had edge lettering but no obverse of reverse designs.
This occurred because these dollars had a two-step minting process. Blanks were fed into the coining press to stamp the obverse and reverse designs. The second step involved edge lettering.
The “lettered blank” error, popularly known as the “Faceless Dollar,” happened when blank planchets accidentally bypassed the main coining press, going directly to the edge machine.
The value of Faceless dollars typically ranges between $40 and $500, depending on authentication and condition.
Overlapped/Inverted Dollars
One final variety happened in 2007 involving the John Adams dollar. These coins were fed into the edge coining machine twice. This resulted in two varieties. Overlapped errors feature doubled edge lettering running in the same direction and inverted errors running in opposite directions and upside down.
These varieties typically retail between $50 to $300, depending on condition.
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According to AI, there is good and bad news about finding the third 1982-D Small Date bronze cent–perhaps the most sought after coin due to social media hype about its lottery-prize-like value.
As you read this, remember that AI is not an expert numismatist. Maybe those folks would have used different metrics. But I am an AI authority as one of the top technology professors with 48 years at top research institutions. So I expect those fellow hobbyists will be commenting and demurring and otherwise questioning these results.
Let’s have some fun.
Only two of these transitional varieties have been found since it was theorized that a copper planchet with a small date might have left the Denver Mint. Here they are, authenticated.
Some more facts: There are seven common varieties of 1982 cents: The copper ones should weigh 3.1 grams; the zinc ones, 2.5 grams. The copper ones are Large Date, Philadelphia; Small Date, Philadelphia; and Large Date, Denver. The zinc ones are Philadelphia, Large Date; Philadelphia, Small Date; Denver, Large Date; and Denver, Small Date.
The coveted transitional variety weighing 3.1 grams has these markers:
AI factored these odds: a hobbyist looking for the third example every day in a dollar’s worth of Lincoln cent pocket change over 40 years as roughly 1 in 300,000,000, or a probability of 0.0000000033.
Let’s illustrate those odds. Imagine one 1982-D Small Date 3.1 grams is mixed into 300,000,000 total cents. Let’s stack those coins one atop the other. They would reach 283 miles high, surpassing the International Space Station. Blindfolded, you pick exactly one coin from that stack anywhere up the cosmic ladder.
What? You don’t like that analogy?
How about this: You are 20,000 times more likely to be hit by lighting than finding the third example.
Here’s the AI screenshot:
But there is good news, too. AI factors that odds of another example (as many as 15-50 might exist!) being circulated in pocket change are nearly 100% probability!
Here’s the screenshot:
It was gratifying to know that AI cited Proxiblog about coins coming from two working dies. You can read that article by clicking here.
AI also included these factors:
The discovery coin was found in 2016.
The second was found in 2019.
This yields an empirical discovery rate of roughly 0.05 coins per year since the hunt began. This low yield confirms that while more coins exist, the vast majority of the 6.01 billion Denver cents have either been melted down, lost in landfills, or remain sitting unexamined in hoarders’ casual coin jars.
Summary of Your Search Odds
Metric
Statistical Value
Odds a 3rd coin exists
~100% (Virtually guaranteed)
Estimated total supply remaining
15 to 50 coins
Odds per individual unsearched 1982-D cent
1 in 300,000,000
Before you start celebrating and searching your grandparents’ coin jars, don’t count on winning the numismatic lottery. You would have better odds winning the Powerball jackpot (again hypothetically) if you bought a ticket every day for 40 years,
AI puts those odds as 1 in 20,000.
Remember the odds of the third 1982-D Small Date bronze coin? That’s 1 in 300,000,000!
Here is its breakdown of the math:
Single Ticket Odds: The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot with a single $2 ticket are 1 in 292,201,338.
Total Tickets Bought: Buying one ticket every day for 40 years (including leap years) equals 14,610 tickets.
Cumulative Probability: Each ticket is an independent event. Your cumulative chance of hitting the jackpot at least once over those 14,610 tries is roughly \(0.005\%\) (or about 1 in 20,000).
Have you made the correlation yet?
Go to the corner gas station. Buy a Powerball ticket. Your odds of winning the lottery jackpot with that single ticket is roughly the same as finding the third 1982-D Small Date bronze cent after 40 years of searching for the unicorn!
If you are intent on searching for those theorized 15-50 examples of the 1982-D Small Date bronze cent, keep doing it. Miracles happen.
Your own existence is 1 in 300,000,000!
AI states: “Yes, events with odds of 1 in 300,000,000 happen around us all the time. When dealing with massive populations or billions of trials, things that are nearly impossible for an individual become statistical guarantees on a larger scale.”
Let’s start with your own existence.
AI states, “Every person alive is the result of a 1-in-300-million event. During human conception, a typical fertile ejaculation releases between 100 million and 300 million sperm cells. The fact that one highly specific sperm successfully fertilized a specific egg to create your exact DNA blueprint means that your existence is equal to finding the third 1982-D Small Date bronze cent!”
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The 1946-S/D variety is highly collectible because it is the only S-over-D overmintmark in the entire Lincoln Cent series.
You will need magnification to see this variety. A loupe should do it, but you can also use a coin microscope. Here’s how it looks without magnification:
In 1946, mintmarks were hand-punched into coin dies. A mint employee punched a “D” into a working die and then realized that it should have been an “S”–a perfect example of how these errors happen. He did his best to correct human error.
To identify the 1946-S/D variety, use that magnification. Look for the curve of the “S” underneath the “D” in the upper inside loop of the “S.”
Study the crossbar of the “D” appearing through the center cavity of the “S.”
The value of a 1946-S/D cent depends on condition, eye appeal and appearance. There are three designations for cents: Brown, Red-Brown, or Red.
Color Designation
Percentage of Original Mint-Red Color
Description
Red (RD)
95% or more
Retains almost all of its original brilliant mint bloom, allowing for only very slight mellowing.
Red-Brown (RB)
Between 5% and 95%
A mix of original red luster and brown toning from air exposure.
Brown (BN)
Less than 5%
The original red color has completely or nearly completely turned into a brown patina.
As for value, from Fine to Very Fine, you are looking at a retail value of $20 to $25. In mint state red, the coin will sell for hundreds if holdered by PCGS or NGC. There have been examples in s MS66 Red for thousands of dollars.
If you are interested in varieties, be sure to check out Proxiblog’s directory, which includes articles, illustrations and markers for popular coins.
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One of the most counterfeited coins is the key date 1877 Indian Cent. It has a low mintage of 852,500. Genuine examples cost hundreds and thousands of dollars. A Good-4 example retails for $650. Extra fine ones go for $3,000 and MS63 Brown, $7,000.
Those values alone make it necessary to know markers so you do not end up with a fake, altered or replica coin.
On all genuine circulation strikes, a single reverse working die was used. So these markers are vital and uniform.
The “N” in ONE slowly grows weaker and shallow as it proceeds to the bottom right corner.
The top left corner of the “N” in CENT also is weakly struck and shallow when you compare it to other letters.
If these “N”s are sharply struck on the reverse, you’re looking at a counterfeit coin.
There are also obverse markers, beginning with the so-called “Slanted 77” in the date. Draw an imaginary horizontal line across the date, and the second “7” should be slightly lower than the first.
If the “7”s are parallel and equal in orientation, you have a fake coin.
You also should check the second “7” for evidence of tooling, changing the last digit of the less valuable 1871, 1874 or 1879 so it appears like a “7.”
You can also do the balance test to see if your coin is a counterfeit. Genuine Indian Head cents have beleved edges and as such cannot stand balanced on its edge. Chinese fakes have flat squared edges. You can balance these.
Also many examples of contemporary counterfeits have a mushy or weakly struck “United States of America.” On genuine coins, this should be legible and crisp. In the image below, the left example is the counterfeit.
Keep in mind that Etsy and Temu sell replicas. Example:
These replicas have many of the same markers as authentic coins and often appear on eBay as authentic.
As a rule, be especially wary of spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on raw 1877 cents if you do not know the markers or have doubts about them. Best to wait for your treasured key date graded by a top holdering company and sold on a legitimate site or shop.
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Fake and replica 1893-S Morgan dollars abound as only 100,000 were minted with current values in multiples of thousands of dollars. This is a summary of markers so that you can identify this coveted key date.
The basic test of any Morgan dollar is its weight: 26.73 grams and diameter of 38.1 millimeters. Any deviation is a fake.
The 1893-S was produced using a single obverse die and two reverse dies. In other words, any deviation of markers also signifies a counterfeit.
View the date. The “1” is squarely atop the fourth denticle (my illustration).
Another marker, difficult to see on worn dollars, is a faint line through the “T” in “Liberty.”
Because the reverse had two dies, they are numbered VAM-1 and VAM-2 according to the directory by Leroy Van Allen and A. George Mallis (hence, VAM after their names). The key marker is the mintmark. VAM-1 has a centered “S” and VAM-2 an “S” tilted slightly to the right.
Be careful if purchasing a 1893-S Morgan dollar. Run the above tests. Again, any deviation from the markers is a red flag for a counterfeit. China also exports counterfeits in fake PCGS holders. To learn more about that, see Jack D. Young’s “Counterfeit PCGS Morgan.”
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To celebrate the nation’s Semiquincentennial–250 years–the US Mint produced 250,000 Declaration of Independence Quarters featuring a special “July 4th” privy mark. These quarters were sent with regular business strikes to banks and now has become a desirable variety, typically selling raw for $100 and several hundreds more if slabbed in high mint state.
In introducing the coin, Mint Director Paul Hollis said, “We hope Americans enjoy the search for these iconic quarters as they’re meant to be shared, saved, and remembered as part of this historic anniversary.”
No Washington Quarter has such a low mintage. The key dates 1932-D had a mintage of 436,800 and 1932-S, 408,000.
Let’s show where you can find the privy mark and display it next to a regular issue.
As you can see, the obverse side displays a profile of Thomas Jefferson and the reverse features the Liberty Bell. The privy mark reads “July 4th. Unlike other business strikes, these rare quarters bear no mint mark, making the privy mark the primary indicator of its rarity.
You can find raw and holdered examples on eBay and other online venues.
If you know how to grade and have an exceptional high mint state example, like this one below, then consider holdering it.
Among the highest graded examples have been MS67, as above. Gem Grades (MS65 to MS66+) have been found in rolls and also go for hundreds of dollars.
As you can imagine, counterfeits, replicas and altered coins are making the rounds. The Better Business Bureau has put out an alert about this.
Scammers have done the following:
Altered Mint Marks: Criminals use standard 2026 Philadelphia or Denver quarters, grind off the “P” or “D” mint mark, and engrave or stamp a fake “July 4” text onto the field.
Misplaced Privy Designs: Some fakes feature poorly defined text or put the mark in the wrong spot.
Forgotten Mintmark: Scammers put a fake July 4th privy mark but forget to shave off the mintmark.
The best place to find these rare privy marked quarters, apart from pocket change, is securing or buying bank rolls … and hoping you’ll get lucky.
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