Lincolns to look for

[AuStruck]

2018-D Doubled ear, look at the ear lobe. Look at bottom of ear lobe just to the west. Recent discovery.

[thecrazyone]

I am not bashing anyone at all, but how can there be so many odd errors like these? They just seem a little strange sometimes!

[Recyclersteve]

Machines make mistakes from time to time. Dies used in making coins have an expected useful life. Sometimes perhaps someone who is supposed to change the dies out might forget until some errors have been produced.

On the other hand, sometimes it is malicious. Examples of errors that many say were made on purpose include the 1913 Liberty ("V") Nickel with only 5 made. Another that comes to mind is the 2004 Wisconsin Extra Leaf (High and Low types) quarters that were made. None other than Q. David Bowers referred to that particular pair as the best error finds since the 1955 Double Die penny.

Truthfully, lots of the errors/varieties that are found are very minor in nature and seldom would fetch much at all. An example is the many varieties of Lincoln cents made in the 1950's and 1960's. There are so many not listed in the Redbook that it is hard to keep up with them all. Chances are that if you had a random roll of circulated 1957-D pennies, there would be a few minor errors in there. Example: I've seen quite a few 1957-D's with clogged 9's, minor doubling of letters in Liberty, etc.

Watch the stuff that sells on this site or even eBay. There are probably some pretty cool errors offered that won't even get a sniff at a small premium over face value. Until someone really influential with a big following gets lots of people to suddenly become interested, don't expect that to change. With social media that could be a remote possibility. If Drake or Taylor Swift suddenly became a huge fan of 1960 P and D small date pennies, the coins would likely spike in value for a short time. If the "D" coins were selling for $1 each and the "P" coins were selling for $10 each, I imagine there are a lot of dealers who would LOVE to sell all they had at that time. It would be a quick sharp spike and then things would come right back down. Everyone would say how stupid they were for getting sucked into it, and then all of a sudden, nobody would want to buy them. Prices would collapse quickly.

There are some neat error types that can be assembled and sold profitably if you are very patient about waiting for that one special buyer. Example: I remember seeing a clip clock. This was a group of Lincoln pennies that had portions of the coins clipped off during the manufacturing process, something that is much less likely to happen nowadays due to the improved technology at the mint. So, with a clip clock, you would have a penny with a clip at the 1 o'clock position, another at the 2 o'clock position, etc. These are very very cool, but you need to know that there are plenty of clipped coins offered for sale that are fakes. Trying to teach you how to separate a real one from a fake is beyond the scope of this website. That said, you can look up what is called the "Blakesley effect" and that may be a helpful tidbit to know.

If someone did ever complete a set of clipped Lincoln pennies from 1941 until at least the late 1970's or late 1980's, that would be a MASSIVE undertaking. It would certainly be one of very few in existence, if not unique. But if you couldn't find a buyer for the set who was willing to pay a fair premium for the thousands of hours it took to assemble the set, what good would it be?

I have some errors but generally won't go to great lengths looking for them. It just isn't worth the time. An exception might be if you hear about an error worth decent money and hear that they are only being found in a few parts of the country (and yours is one). Although it is not an error, I remember reading that the 2009 nickels (which are hard to find in most places) were heavily distributed to the island of Puerto Rico. With Hurricane Maria doing lots of damage to the island almost 2 years ago, you have to wonder how many of these coins were lost forever. It is NOT an error, but a coin that is quite hard to find- except perhaps on that one island.

Keep reading this website. There is tons and tons of information on it.

[thecrazyone]

Thanks! And yep, reading and learning a lot!

I also remember looking high and low in change for that 04 quarter with no luck.

[Recyclersteve]

Thanks! And yep, reading and learning a lot!

I also remember looking high and low in change for that 04 quarter with no luck.

I remember reading that they were basically found only in the San Antonio, TX, Austin, TX, Tucson, AZ and Phoenix, AZ areas. I wonder if dealers in TX and AZ have more of those in stock than dealers in other states...

I remember some of the Wisconsin quarters that were grading, say, MS-65 or better were selling for prices like $5k and above on eBay. It was absolutely wild watching these.