Expert: PAPAJACK - 1/15/2008

Question
Hi, PapaJohn,
Thanks for taking my question. I have a friend that has been looking through a magnifier at every coin he finds. If it looks any different than the other 1000, he calls me. (Several times a day...) Maybe he finally found something!
He emailed me a photo of a 1994-D penny that appears under 5X or so magnification to have a doubled D mintmark. Is this a common error, or has he found his way to fame and fortune? A photo is available, if you would like me to send.
Thanks for your opinion.

Answer
Hello Terry,                            

I must say I am not an error coin collector. I did not find this error listed in my catalogs. This type of error would have to be seen in person a photograph of the coin does not really let you see the finer points.
Error collecting is a branch outside of coins collecting. There is no fixed price list for these error coins published and each one would have to be seen to be evaluated. Only if the mint produced many coins with the exact same defect would the die be suspect. And only a coin made with the defective die would be valuable.
An error like this may not be as rare as people think however not all are found by collectors.

It is possible that the die moved or stretched during the pressing or that the die itself bounced when the coin was made. You must look at all the features on the coin, check carefully with a magnifier and a good lighting source.
If this is what happened at the mint, the Category would be a double stamped error. It carries only a small premium only with error collectors but is not very valuable since it was not a die error but a single mishap in fabrication of the coin.

For more information on errors look for the "The ERROR COIN ENCYCLOPEDIA" by Arnold Margolis

I also want to mention COMBINED ORGANIZATION of NUMISMATIC ERROR COLLECTORS ASSOCIATION; they are the ultimate experts in the error coin field.  
CONECA is a national numismatic organization devoted to the education of error and variety coin collectors. CONECA focuses on many error and variety specialties, including doubled dies, Re-punched mint marks, multiple errors, clips, double strikes, off-metals and off-centers just to name a few.

If there any more information you require on this question just ask.

Thank You and Good Luck

PapaJack