Dollar errors not limited to edges
With all the attention in the past few weeks given to the Washington dollars with missing lettering and other error types on their edges, it is easy to forget that other error types are also being found.
With all the attention in the past few weeks given to the Washington dollars with missing lettering and other error types on their edges, it is easy to forget that other error types are also being found.
Perhaps one of the more interesting die errors that I?ve seen is a 2007-P with a prominent die gouge that runs diagonally from the numeral one (1) of the denomination southeast through the gown of Liberty. Numismatic News reader, Jim Susack of New Jersey noticed the error while searching the coin for errors and refers to it as a ?Wounded Liberty.?
The gouge is actually pretty deep as far as gouges go and we can see that another, lighter gouge runs almost parallel to it up to the north. It appears that the Mint made a strong attempt to remove much of the gouge as evidenced by heavy abrasion of the die within the gown and above to Liberty?s neck. The abrasive cut so deep into the surface of the die that field areas appear within the low points of the gown where they do not belong while the head of Liberty appears partially detached from her body.
Die gouges and the closely related die dents on modern coins have never really caught on as popular collectables amongst variety coin specialists with the one exception being the Morgan and Peace dollar varieties known as VAMs which do include a number of gouges and dents. However, in recent years a few die gouge/dent varieties have ticked the fancy of mainstream collectors while continuing to be largely shunned by specialists. They include the 2000-P Sacagawea dollar boasting the so-called ?Wounded Eagle? (due to a die gouge through the Eagle?s midsection), a 2005-D ?Speared Buffalo? five-cents (exhibiting a spear-like die dent through the body of the Bison) and the two extremely popular 2004-D Wisconsin quarters with leaf-like die gouges (or dents) nicknamed the ?High-Leaf? and ?Low-Leaf? varieties for the positions of the ?extra leaves? to the left of an ear of corn.
Ken Potter is the official attributer of world doubled dies for the Combined Organizations of Numismatic Error Collectors of America and for the National Collectors Association of Die Doubling. He also privately lists other collectable variety types on both U.S. and world coins in the Variety Coin Register.
More information on either of the clubs or how to get a coin listed in the Variety Coin Register may be obtained by sending a long self addressed envelope with 63c postage to P.O. Box 760232, Lathrup Village, MI 48076 or by contacting him via email at . An educational image gallery may be viewed on his web site at www.koinpro.com
