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How do i know if I found a new cherry pick variety or an undiscovered coin?
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39 posts in this topic

7 minutes ago, Moxie15 said:

exactly what makes you think this is a new variety?

All I see is a rather worn and damaged cent.

Please say what I am missing

Thank you

 

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1 minute ago, Michelemoney said:

 

Well I have not found any listed ddo for this date and is missing completely in God we trust. Is it at least worth grading being a ddo

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The pictures are too out of focus to give much feedback. I think there is something going on with Liberty, which prompted your question. From the little I can tell it does look like a worn die. This caused the design to “leak” out around the perimeter for lack of better term as the design gets worn with use. If you post clearer pictures we can tell you for sure, but I don’t think it is an actual variety of any kind. 
 

To answer your question on how do I know if I have a variety? A good start is to look at resources, such as variety vista (website). Compare what you think you see to known examples for the coin in question (year/mint). It needs to match exactly the listed variety. Then if you do find a match and you think it warrants certification, many of the lesser varieties aren’t attributed. You can look on NGC’s variety plus for the varieties they attribute. 
 

A few tidbits of advice I was given as a newbie and admittedly wasn’t as quick to take to heart as I should. 
 

1. Just because it is different doesn’t mean it’s special 

2. Varieties aren’t common, atleast the ones that are worth the time. If you are seeing varieties right and left slow down and analyze critically. 
 

3. Learn the minting process. Once you know the process you ask yourself if it could have happened during that process. If it didn’t/couldn’t have happened at the mint it’s post mint damage (PMD) and simply detracts from value. 
 

Stick with it. If you want to learn you will be amazed what you will pick up in the next 6 months. 

Edited by Woods020
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The answer to your question is you start with a copy of the suitable volume of the Cherrypicker's Guide, where you can find the most common varieties. That's how you rule out (or identify) the known variations.

If you think you have an error no one else has, your next step is to learn enough about minting to understand how an error could have occurred. If you think you have a new error, it's useless to just point to a flawed coin and assume it's an error. You'd need to have a theory of how the mint could have caused the situation you're seeing. That's the part most new arrivals leave out: the question of "how could this have happened in the minting process?"

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One last piece of advice. After you learn the minting process, research error-ref.com which has great information on identifying errors. Learn what causes a doubled die, and common occurrences that may look like one. Also the ANA recently posted a video entitled “oh no it isn’t” (I think that was the correct title) that goes through a bunch of common misconceptions about varieties and errors. 

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16 minutes ago, Woods020 said:

Just because it is different doesn’t mean it’s special 

Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES! I have been singing this tune forever.

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25 minutes ago, Woods020 said:

I’ll give a lot of credit where credit is due. The members of this forum have taught me a lot, and I am very appreciative. I am sure you were one of the ones I was grumbling under my breath about as I read responses early on until one day it started clicking. Low and behold what they are telling me from their years of learning actually has merit. Who knew? 😂 

 

I do appreciate the membership here and this is a great place to learn if someone wants to. To mention another piece of advice perhaps you and others gave me is that nothing is a substitute for good old fashioned studying, like with books and everything. So this isn’t THE answer to learning, but this forum is a good tool to have in the learning arsenal. I only try now to pay it back and help others where I can with what little I’ve learned. 

Yup, use this forum as directions to get to where you need to go, but this ain’t where your hotel is. Nothing online is, truly. Not even the vaunted Newman Numismatic Portal is. You have to kill a few trees. And if you’re trying to do this hobby “on the cheap” or on a hugely diminished budget, you will always have severe limitations. 

Edited by VKurtB
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12 minutes ago, James Zyskowski said:

Howdy welcome from a newbie. The learning is awesome from so many knowledgeable folks. Picture worth a thousand words. I received similar advice this is $5.00 e book

06558843-74AC-4C8C-85DE-BC6D675B245F.jpeg

Even I picked up a used one of these, and I’m no “errors and varieties” fan whatsoever. If that’s your jam, you NEED this book. If not, there’s an entire world of collectible coins that have nothing to do with errors and varieties. 

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A word to the guide buyer: note that Volume I is half cents to nickels. Volume II is dimes and up. I haven't checked to see where half dimes fall, but put it this way: you find a half dime you suspect might be an error, and I'll gladly look and tell you which volume pertains.

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4 hours ago, JKK said:

A word to the guide buyer: note that Volume I is half cents to nickels. Volume II is dimes and up. I haven't checked to see where half dimes fall, but put it this way: you find a half dime you suspect might be an error, and I'll gladly look and tell you which volume pertains.

Sorry about that. There sure is more than one book. Each as said is covering a specific range of denominations.  Check out Leocover.com. For the list and then your favorite source for literature 🤓

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48 minutes ago, James Zyskowski said:

Sorry about that. There sure is more than one book. Each as said is covering a specific range of denominations.  Check out Leocover.com. For the list and then your favorite source for literature 🤓

Nothing you should be sorry for. I brought it up originally, felt I'd better clarify. The books look almost precisely the same but for that slight title difference and it'd be an easy ordering mistake.

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Only minutes, yes MINUTES, rounded to an hour, after joining NGC -- the OP, who's been here less than 24 hours, plies the membership with a 37-year old coin, and files his query under "cherry pickers". 🍒 

Not a single mention of catastrophic post-mint damage is made and instead of ignoring the obvious -- a coin featuring an ex-President whose face was flattened with a steam roller and evidence of IN GOD WE TRUST which is there for all to see, we debate intangibles like variety, error and "flaws."

Somewhat related, does anyone have anything to say about the two rare ancient gold coins a metal detectorist found bent in half in England recently? At what point does extreme damage effectively countermand consideration of attributes. I don't know what the reverse of this coin looks like but there is nothing to be found there that will overcome the state of the obverse. Talk about "high hopes." I am prepared to offer the OP Five Cents if his coin is rejected anywhere for any reason.

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@Woods020 Tell you what... you put that thing on eBay, with the OP's consent, with or without a shot of the reverse, with or without professional consultation with the tacit understanding you may ascribe features to it that are real, imagined, similar to or superior to other documented specimens, and you, and everyone else, can place your bids as to its hoped for actual retail price and hopefully put an end to all this nonsensical speculation as to what you or anyone else thinks they may or may not have. You don't buy a used car involved in a serious accident, fire or flood.  If a Rolls Royce has been totaled, you remove the Spirit of Ecstasy, and that's the end of it..  Insurance covers the rest. The comments above will serve as the crippled coin's obituary.

P. S.  Some of the most interesting gentlemen here have been expelled elsewhere.  There is a rumor a feisty young woman once was but I believe that to be unsubstantiated rumor. I don't require a chaperone. And I don't believe anyone else does either. Thus far, no one has argued for submission which would be the height of irresponsibility.

Edited by Quintus Arrius
Make the presentation more palatable.
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On 6/27/2021 at 8:08 PM, Quintus Arrius said:

@Woods020 Tell you what... you put that thing on eBay, with the OP's consent, with or without a shot of the reverse, with or without professional consultation with the tacit understanding you may ascribe features to it that are real, imagined, similar to or superior to other documented specimens, and you, and everyone else, can place your bids as to its hoped for actual retail price and hopefully put an end to all this nonsensical speculation as to what you or anyone else thinks they may or may not have. You don't buy a used car involved in a serious accident, fire or flood.  If a Rolls Royce has been totaled, you remove the Spirit of Ecstasy, and that's the end of it..  Insurance covers the rest. The comments above will serve as the crippled coin's obituary.

P. S.  Some of the most interesting gentlemen here have been expelled elsewhere.  There is a rumor a feisty young woman once was but I believe that to be unsubstantiated rumor. I don't require a chaperone. And I don't believe anyone else does either. Thus far, no one has argued for submission which would be the height of irresponsibility.

Your funny

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4 hours ago, Michelemoney said:

Your funny

"What do you mean, I'm funny?

It's funny, you know. It's a good story, It's funny, you're a funny guy.

What do you mean, the way I talk?  What?

You mean, let me understand this cause you know maybe it's me.... but I'm funny how?  I mean funny like a clown, I amuse you, I'm here to make you laugh.  What do you mean funny, how? How am I funny?

Just, you know, how you tell the story, what?

No, no.  I don't know. You said it. How the f am I funny, what the f is so funny about me?  Tell me what's funny!

[Classic excerpted exchange between Tommy DeVito and Henry Hill, Goodfellas (1990)]   :facepalm:

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6 minutes ago, Quintus Arrius said:

"What do you mean, I'm funny?

It's funny, you know. It's a good story, It's funny, you're a funny guy.

What do you mean, the way I talk?  What?

You mean, let me understand this cause you know maybe it's me.... but I'm funny how?  I mean funny like a clown, I amuse you, I'm here to make you laugh.  What do you mean funny, how? How am I funny?

Just, you know, how you tell the story, what?

No, no.  I don't know. You said it. How the f am I funny, what the f is so funny about me?  Tell me what's funny!

[Classic excerpted exchange between Tommy DeVito and Henry Hill, Goodfellas (1990)]   :facepalm:

Funny peculiar, not ROFL funny. 

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Funny your hypocrisy about newbies. Gee complains about big meanies being hard on a newbie and turn around and puck all over this thread and drag the newbie like you have some right. There ase a number of words to describe your antics but I’m good with hypocrite. Are you gunna beat me up?  Tough guy 

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On 6/27/2021 at 7:16 PM, Quintus Arrius said:

Only minutes, yes MINUTES, rounded to an hour, after joining NGC -- the OP, who's been here less than 24 hours, plies the membership with a 37-year old coin, and files his query under "cherry pickers". 🍒 

Not a single mention of catastrophic post-mint damage is made and instead of ignoring the obvious -- a coin featuring an ex-President whose face was flattened with a steam roller and evidence of IN GOD WE TRUST which is there for all to see, we debate intangibles like variety, error and "flaws."

Somewhat related, does anyone have anything to say about the two rare ancient gold coins a metal detectorist found bent in half in England recently? At what point does extreme damage effectively countermand consideration of attributes. I don't know what the reverse of this coin looks like but there is nothing to be found there that will overcome the state of the obverse. Talk about "high hopes." I am prepared to offer the OP Five Cents if his coin is rejected anywhere for any reason.

This you?

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1 minute ago, James Zyskowski said:

Funny your hypocrisy about newbies. Gee complains about big meanies being hard on a newbie and turn around and puck all over this thread and drag the newbie like you have some right. There ase a number of words to describe your antics but I’m good with hypocrite. Are you gunna beat me up?  Tough guy 

(You're too knew and haven't had a chance to really get to know me otherwise you wouldn't have showered me with such undeserved praise.)

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8 minutes ago, Quintus Arrius said:

(You're too knew and haven't had a chance to really get to know me otherwise you wouldn't have showered me with such undeserved praise.)

I am certainly getting a crash course unfortunately on you. Your other posts are interesting?  I will in the future make sure to ignore your posts 

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This coin is NOT a die variety so it won't be listed in the Cherrypickers.  Now is it an error?  I'll give you a clue.  This is a copper plated zinc cent.  What do you think would happen if something removed IGWT after the coin was struck?

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11 hours ago, VKurtB said:

Funny peculiar, not ROFL funny. 

[C'mon Kurt!  A dowager twists her ankle on one of those subway grates (made famous by Marilyn Monroe in an updraft) is in sheer agony and she gets expert advice on where to go for a First Class pedicure.]  :makepoint:

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11 hours ago, Quintus Arrius said:

[C'mon Kurt!  A dowager twists her ankle on one of those subway grates (made famous by Marilyn Monroe in an updraft) is in sheer agony and she gets expert advice on where to go for a First Class pedicure.]  :makepoint:

I'm not sure how long it's been since I saw one of those grates. Maybe one near the Capitol in Harrisburg, PA, but I'm not fully certain. Heck, here in Alabama, almost no buildings even have basements. Where would the updraft come from? Before I moved here, I assumed the shorter life expectancy was due to obesity or some other disease. It's not. THESE PEOPLE SIMPLY CANNOT DRIVE SAFELY.

Edited by VKurtB
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