die variety coins versus error coins ???????

[ldarrellc]

Okay I need help on totally understanding the differences.

[coppercoins]

Die varieties - doubled dies, repunched mintmarks, over mintmarks, and date punch doubling (19th century coins). All of these involve doubling and are on the die before it is hung on the press to mint the first coin.

Errors - happen during the planchet making process (clips, laminations, wrong stock, unplated, etc) or during striking coins (double struck, brockages, broadstrikes, etc.). They can also happen to the die - damage to the die - during striking (clashes, CUDs, breaks, overpolishing, etc.). Three different kinds of errors - planchet, die, and striking errors.

Biggest difference between errors and die varieties...errors can occur using dies or planchets that were completely normal when the process began. Die varieties happen with dies that were doubled (flawed) before the process of striking coins with the die ever began.

Something to note and consider...a doubled die is a doubled die and that die always made doubled dies. The design on the die was doubled when the die was made so every single coin made from the die had a doubled design.

A CUD or a clash is something that happens to the die as it is being used. When it was hung on the press to make coins, it was completely normal, thus the damage that causes the error happened to the die wouldn't show up on early strikes...so it's safe to assume that a CUD, which is an error, occurs using a broken die that didn't used to be broken and struck completely normal coins.

There's the crux of the difference.

[ldarrellc]

Thank You so Much for clearing that up for Me. That is one reason I LOVE Coppercoins.com for....You can always learn alot and for this new collector and all new collectors out there this is the place to be.

[coppercoins]

You're very welcome...that's why we are here - to learn and teach.

You will find that a vast majority of the information (and collectors) here lean toward die varieties. Because they are catalogable by die, they are easier to define as a "set". That's one of the main reasons I have never liked errors.

If you're collecting all the die varieties known for a date or series, all you have to do is turn to a catalog listing of all the different known dies.

If you're trying to collect a clipped planchet set of Lincolns, it's entirely possible you'll never finish the set because there may not be any clips of certain issues.

I prefer to go with realistic goals - far reached, but still realistic.