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Above: Lincoln cent struck on scrap planchet. In the last part of this series on building an error coin collection, we discussed building a set by date and mintmark. While an interesting way to collect, some collectors like to have lots and lots of different errors in their collections, and an error type set is perfect for them. How to build a collection from Coin Errors list To bui …

Above: A 1921-D Morgan Dollar Struck 15% Off-Center Error collectors build their collections in all different ways according to their personal preferences. Some like to build type sets, others collect by date and mintmark, while others just buy what catches their fancy. None of these are right or wrong, and what you collect should be determined by what you enjoy the most. Over the next …

Certified Mint Error Coins: What to Know Third party grading services are extremely popular with today’s collector. The grade, authenticity, and any “problems” on a coin are noted on the holder. In theory, most of the work is done, and all the collector has to worry about are the simply things, such as the basic eye appeal of the coin, if they want to own the coin, and if they can affor …

How to collect error coins is pretty easily answered: collect what you enjoy. That's really the bottom line to collecting, I will tell you from the beginning of this blog post. But should you make other considerations when choosing what to collect? Financial considerations and the eventual sale of your collection by yourself or your heirs are things that you may want to consider when choosin …

The error coin collecting hobby seems to be online nowadays. Dealers’ websites, eBay, online auctions, these all are where most error collectors buy coins for their collections nowadays. Yes, coin shows do have some error collectors in attendance, but the number is relatively small. We see only a minute handful of collectors at coin shows. The number of non-internet-using collectors are dwar …

One of the more curious error coins we recently purchased at the Portland ANA National Money Show is a PCGS 1943-S steel cent with it’s reverse zinc coating having detached from the steel cent’s reverse. The zinc detached coating is a solid piece of metal, and weighs an incredible 0.0005 grains. It is struck normally on one side, and the other is an incuse mirror brockage of the reverse desi …

Coin Show Report Portland ANA National Money Show March 5-7, 2015 “The coin market is slow.”  That was the frequent comment given by non-error dealers at the show. There isn’t as much dealer-to-dealer activity (wholesale business) going on, and the retail market is generally slow were what most dealers we talked to were saying. Apparently the economy, an abundance of majo …

The FUN show in Orlando, Florida is over, and we are back with over $30,000 in fresh errors purchased at FUN, and when combined with a mixture of other collections recently purchased this month, we have well over $60,000 in fresh new errors for your perusal! Some of the nicest coins include an MS-65 buffalo nickel on cent planchet, a number of dual-date double-denominations, and some very nice off …

FUN Show 2015 January 8th-11th, 2015 are the dates for the upcoming FUN Coin Show in Orlando, Florida. Probably a tie with the summer ANA Convention for “Best show of the year”, this is a must-attend event for error coin collectors. There will be most if not all of the full-time error coin dealers there set-up at the show, as well as over 500 “non-error” dealers. A major auction is held …

Above: The inner harbor of Baltimore, near the Convention Center where the show was held. It has been a little over a week since we got back from attending the Baltimore Whitman Coin Show, held Oct 30th-Nov 2nd in Baltimore, Maryland. There was a lot happening at the show, as is to be expected when you have a coin show consisting of a major auction held by Stacks/Bowers, 500 t …