question is the 88/89's a error or variety ??

[Guest]

im logging everything into a new computer program and not sure where to put these under error or variety ??

thanks
co

[mustbebob]

I would call it a mint error since the reverse of 89 was inadvertently used on the 1988s. Others would call it a variety though, but I would stick with error.

[DoubleYou]

Ah! The big error/variety terminology debate!

I would put it under variety.

Wendell

[jcuve]

I am squarely on the fence. On one hand the die installation error occurred before coins were struck fulfilling some collectors' requirements for a "variety," on the other hand it is by no means intentional such as the change from VDB to no VDB on the 1909 Lincoln which is a true variety so the '88/'89 could be an error. Of course my explanation leads to a place where DDOs and RPMs could also not be called varieties...and I just have not figured it out yet. I do feel that to many collectors, when something moves into the "variety" camp it becomes more coveted.

Thinking about this debate, and writing about it, is giving me headache...

[shameless]

thanks evrybody
im on the fence also as i thought about it
thats why i asked but im leaning towards error

[snowman]

variety in my eyes

i like to think that errors are are something that an average person can see something is wrong with a coin

now what if the mint changed the reverse midway thru the year where half are RDV-005 & half RDV-006 ..would you still call it an error

[mustbebob]

Snowman... the mint purposely changing the reverse was not the case here, but if it was an intentional act, I would agree that it would then be called a variety. Since it was a mistake, that's where I would say it was a mint error. An error and mistake are the same thing in my book. I think we get into semantics with these things after a while as some folks call the Wide AM an error, while others call it a variety. Most people associate an error with the striking of a coin, and that's where the definition is somewhat vague. Is there a right answer to this question? I don't know, but what you call it doesn't affect what it is to a collector.