Buy Collections, Not Coins

Author

Max Hockley
February 16, 2024

Happy belated Valentine’s Day, numismatists!

If you’re still scrambling to figure out what to get your coin-loving significant other, then I’ve got you covered, with my usual selection of curated deals, as well as a pretty cool collection I came across in this week’s video - ask nicely and maybe I’ll sell!

But first, pop quiz, hotshot (answer in bottom of email):

What rare feature makes the 1943 copper penny one of the most sought-after U.S. coins by collectors?

They might call me a coin collector, but really they should call me a coin collection collector.

Every now and again, the Silverpicker really lets loose, purchasing a heap of coins and combing through to see if there any gems to be found within. And in this week’s video, I do exactly this, buying a viewer’s collection for the second time. It’s fair to say I got more than bang for my buck.

Check it out:

This week’s question comes from Reddit:

So, this crack that you’re looking at is what’s known as a die crack.

A little bit of background: When coins are minted, there are specific dies (essentially molds) that are created to strike them, using a ton of pressure and speed. Coins start out as “planchets” or blanks, basically disks with the right weight and diameter for the specific coin. These planchets are then struck with the dies to make the design.

But as the dies begin to wear out, some of them contain small errors and occasionally cracks, which get translated onto the coin, as you can see in the image above.

Die-related occurrences are collectively known as varieties. These are different from errors in that they are less extreme, varieties are related to problems with the die itself, and are highly collectible.

Many of these exist. For example the first State Quarter (Delaware), there is a die crack that happens to coincide with the horse’s mouth - known as “the Spitting Horse”:

And, what about this one - known as “the Pooping Horse”:

There are a lot of examples here. The bottom line is that if you can learn these varieties, you can just get a bunch of coins from your bank, go through them, and sell the varieties you find on Whatnot, for example.

✅Build your collection: Some great deals on Apmex

Pop quiz answer: Well done, those of you who got it - you go straight to the top of the class. The answer is, of course, that most pennies were made of steel, making the copper version rare.

See you next week!

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