Doubled Ear Cents- Search all 80,s ?

[Guest]

With the discovery of the 1988 Doubled ear cent , should we be looking through all 1984- 2000 cents for this Variety. In my opinion we should be finding some more. Is this anomaly so rare that it only occurs on a few hundred coins. I pose this question for the more experience collectors and professionals. Should we narrow our search to just certain years. I do not have any answers so I am requesting your informed responses. Thanks in advance for all replies.


Lucien

[coinman2009]

Not all that Informed, But I feel I'll be searching a lot more! It makes sense to me that there's more out there! Enjoy!

[hasfam]

Personally, I wouldn't narrow down anything. Not the dates. Not what you look for or at on a coin. if that is the case then how did Chris discover the doubled ear? 1988 wasn't known for a doubled ear. You look at every coin, every date. become familiar with what each basic date looks like. Become familiar with how doubled dies are made, each class and other anomolies and errors. then when you are searching, anomolies, doubled dies, errors seem to pop out because of your familiarity.
Once i asked Bob Piazza if he ever went back thru his huge stash of lincolns when a big discovery is made and he said no, because he would like to think that his initial search was thorough and complete and that nothing was missed. This is how I think we should search. Know what we are doing and when you put a lincoln in the done pile, have no doubts that its done. i have looked thru about 5 boxes of cents in the past 2 months, not many by comparison to others but I have pulled over 125 varieties from those rolls. Anyway, thats my thoughts on the subject.

[Roller]

I think the doubled die '88 is a product of the multiple "sqeeze" hubbing process and would not be repeated in '89 and post '89 coins in any event. But, as stated before, I also check each coin for every possible defect/variety (that I know of). I am going over pre-'82 coins that I kept when I first started to collect because I have learned a lot since and I have found RPM's and other varieties as a result. (I kept the pre '82's because they're copper but I'm now culling them out on re-searching and keep only the collectible specimens.)

[Scooby]

I agree with hasfam.

I was speaking to liveandievarieties on the phone the other night and mentioned that I have absolutely no idea what is in the cherrypicker's guide. That's because I look at every single coin, regardless.

Even if it is corroded, I still give it my undivided attention. I would hate to make a discovery on a corroded coin, but i would prefer that over tossing it and never knowing that the variety exists.

I promise you if this '88 doubled ear would have ever crossed my path, you guys would know about it. I have wondered how often we might get on autopilot. You pick up a '99, flip it over look to see if it's a WAM and toss it. I try not to do that.

[dvn]

I examine everything on the obverse and reverse no matter what date it is.

Billy (dvn)

[hasfam]

I have wondered how often we might get on autopilot. You pick up a '99, flip it over look to see if it's a WAM and toss it. I try not to do that.

Oh, I'm guilty of that sometimes. I catch myself and take a break. Coffee and a smoke, then back at it.

[copperlover]

I would agree with Rock and Scooby. Every coin examined should be searched thoroughly and that is the reason why some errors or varieties were never discovered for more than twenty years, especially coins from the eighties and early nineties.

Lucien

[lara4228]

Not so pro at this hobby, and I can only add that because I am so new, I check every coin regardless of popular known varieties or not. With that being said, it takes me a lot longer than every one, I'm sure, but none-the-less, if I don't then I won't learn.

What is bothersome to me is that I can't post ANY decent pics of what I want to question due to my situation. If we only stuck to known varieties then the numismatic hobby of Lincoln varieties would end here, with the 1988 doubled ear.

Dare to dream and dream to dare.

[Maineman750]

Hate to say it but I'm on the opposite side of the spectrum. I go fairly fast and look for major and usually known varieties or errors.I know that's not how to make discoveries, but the odds are in my favor to find more of the big ones.I average a little over $100 FV in cents every week and only slow down if I'm running low on cents.Maybe my new toy ( a microscope on a boom) will change things,but for now, that's my style and I find it relaxing. Plenty of people making new discoveries to add to my list and I'm happy with that.

[mustbebob]

Some nice comments here. As Rock mentioned, I would like to think that I search my coins well enough to find everything. Does it mean I have missed something? You better believe it. We must also realize that the more we search, the more we learn, and the easier the search should be. I do not expect a person only searching for a year to know everything there is to know versus someone who has been searching for 40 something years like me. On the other hand, some collectors do go through coins with tunnel vision. Roger likes looking for the stronger ones, where I look for every little thing. There is nothing wrong with that. There is also nothing wrong with taking your time. There is no set time limit to search a coin. Some folks average 5 seconds per coin. some take a minute, others even longer.
It is still amazing that a major variety like the 1988 doubled ear went unreported for so long. This may prove to be a rare variety. I have already been asked why it took so long, especially since folks are looking for the RDVs. My guess would be that tn this case, there could be very, very few (like the 92P CAMs), or that folks are not paying that much attention to the obverse. How many of you consciously look at the ear area on dates other than 1984, 1997 and 2006? My guess is that it is not a primary area for collectors unless it is one of the dates where doubled ears are found.
Great thread. Keep the comments coming.

[Roller]

I look at the ear on every coin. I happen to like ears.

[DoubleYou]

Hey, we have doubled ears all the way back to 1941 and all the way up to 2007. Personally my favorite place to look for doubling has been on the ear. I look all over my coins and know I have missed stuff, but I try to find everything. Check those ears! You never know when there might be two!

[copperlover]

I am in agreement with Bob regarding the rarity of these coins and I think that more could have been found if we were looking for them earlier and many of them may be lost due to damage as it the era of the zinc coins which much of its population is lost very early after the coin is struck.

Lucien

[jcuve]

I agree; we all have to search and scrutinize all dates...