The latest May/Jun 2008 issue of Die Variety News online bi-monthly magazine is now available in Adobe Acrobat© rich-text PDF (Portable Document File) which allows the viewer an extremely clear high resolution with dynamic zoom capability and detailed printing of each page.

This May/Jun Issue #13 of DVN Magazine includes highlights on a “2004-D Roosevelt Dime Analysis,” “1988 1c Transitional Varieties,” “Wyoming State Quarter DDRs,” “OIV Doubled Dies Continue,” “Strange Reverse on 2006 Lincoln Cent,” and we continue with more “Presidential Varieties & Heavy Abrading.” Plus our extremely popular “This & That” section, “World Varieties,” “Mint Error Showcase” and our “Variety Spotlight” covers the 1943-S 1c DDO.

Susan Headley , the About.com Coin Guide reviewed this issue in her latest column as follows:

” The cover story for this issue is the mysterious 2004-D Roosevelt Dime which has an apparent doubled ear. The doubled ear is difficult to see in the small photo I have here, but if you click through to Billy’s site and look at the full-sized Die Variety News #13 cover, you’ll see an enlargement of this intriguing coin.

Inside issue #13, Billy examines this remarkable coin and provides an answer to the question people have been asking ever since the coin was discovered: Is it a doubled die? Was this semi-circular mark on the ear made by the same person who added the “extra leaf” to certain Wisconsin Quarters (also done at the Denver Mint in 2004?) Or is this mark just some kind of random die damage? Billy shows us what he thinks is the cause, using his lovely large-sized microphotographs and a clear, point-by-point explanation of his theory.

I have to absolutely frank with you and say that I am stunned that this magazine is free! Mike Byers has published yet another amazing issue of his wildly popular Mint Error News Magazine, devoted to error and variety coins. The current issue, number 23 in the series, has more 200 pages cram-packed with information, photos, and price lists relating to error coins! Even the advertisements are fascinating!

Although all of the magazine is interesting and informative, the error coin price guides painstakingly compiled by Al Levy are the only frequently-updated price guides of this type that can be found anywhere on the Web. Levy scans eBay, the widest-reaching coin market in the world, for the closing prices of hundreds of different types, dates, and combinations of errors. For example, on the page containing prices for the “Speared Bison” Nickels and “Extra Leaf” Wisconsin Quarters, we learn that prices are way down, partly due to new material coming on the market. Levy warns us about the do-it-yourself coin-wrapping equipment that allows people to wrap and crimp their own rolls of coins, so one should be very wary bidding on supposedly unsearched rolls that show an error coin on the end.

The cover story is about a Proof Utah State Quarter which was struck on an elliptical clip. (An elliptical clip is a coin blank that was erroneously punched into an oval, rather than round, shape. Such blanks are extremely rare, but for a Proof coin to have such a blank, with all of the careful handling and multiple inspections that Proof coins go through at the Mint, it’s downright newsworthy!)

Read Full Article on About Coins 

By Ken Potter for Numismaster

In my Feb. 19 Numismatic News front page story I revealed that an “Extra Beard” variety had been found by reader James P. McCarthy of Wisconsin. I also noted that I and a number of other variety coins specialists had designated it as a doubled die from a tilted hub.

Now I must report that all the researchers (including yours truly) who attributed it as a doubled die just weeks ago, have unanimously reversed our opinions and have reattributed it as a clashed die from a Misaligned Die (or what is often referred to as a MAD Clash). Those of us who originally suggested that the coin was a doubled die based our opinions on the fact that overlays seemed to neatly fit the area of the so-called extra beard in another area of the beard just perfectly.

However, soon after the variety was first publicized, folks started finding more examples with the so-called extra beards from other dies with obvious clash marks. A closer look at examples struck from the same dies as the original find also showed traces of clash but they were minor and overlooked as trivial by most the first time around. With more “extra beards” being found from other dies with obvious clash marks, a clash had to be reconsidered as a possible cause.

Read Full Numismaster Article

Jeff Makkos of Ohio reports finding a double struck 2007-P James Madison dollar in a Mint-issue set. The type of double strike involved is what errorists refer to as an “In-Collar Double Strike with Rotation Between Strikes.”

The cause may be due to two different scenarios.

The first possibility is that the coin was struck normally and then reentered the coining area falling back over the collar where it was forced back into the collar by a second strike in a position rotated just a few degrees away from the original strike.

Another possibility suggested by CONECA president Mike Diamond, is that coin remained in the collar while the inner sleeve of the collar broke loose and rotated within resulting in the same effect.

Because a coin normally expands in diameter ever so slightly upon ejection it is difficult for it to completely reenter the collar unless forced. The forcing of the coin into the collar often results in it only being forced part way and and edge that looks to have two levels or what is known as a “Partial Collar.” Makkos’ coin does not show a partial collar, indicating that it was either forced all the way back into the collar during the second strike or could have been in a rotating collar.
Read Full Numismaster Article by Ken Potter

Blank Monroe Dollar has Edge Lettering

A “Faceless” Monroe Presidential Dollar has been found by coin collector Garrett Reich of Michigan. This extremely rare error type, of which only one previous specimen has ever been confirmed, is a Presidential Dollar that didn’t get struck by the coin dies, leaving it without any obverse or reverse designs. Reich’s coin is a blank planchet with a very important difference from nearly other blank Presidential Dollar coins: it has Presidential Dollar edge lettering on it! Garrett found the coin in a bank box of 1,000 coins wrapped up into 40 rolls on February 13, 2008, the day before the coins officially went on sale at most banks. (Some banks are known to distribute the coins ahead of the official release date.)

Monroe Faceless Dollar is NGC Certified

Reich’s Faceless Monroe Dollar specimen has been certified by NGC as genuine, with the label reading “2008P (James Monroe) $1 / Edge Lettered Planchet / Mint Error” along with the verification number on the insert. According to Reich’s wife, Erika, the grading service messed up the label the first time around, apparently not recognizing that the particular president was a certain, known fact in this case.

Read Full Story by Susan Here