Minor Washington Dollar Errors - Continued
Starbursts and Sunbursts - Because a sunburst is brighter, I am using this term to describe specimens displaying a markedly bright "sunburst" style pattern, which looks as if it has been caused by a struck-through-grease event. Most, if not all, of the sunburst patterns are appearing on plain edge P-Mint Dollars. The "starburst" pattern is a well-known phenomenon caused by die fatigue, and is usually considered "damage" unless it is extreme (then it's considered "interesting.")"Filled Die" Missing Obverse Inscription - A remarkable error type where "mint goop" has filled the letters of the entire lower inscription on the obverse die. (Mint goop is a concoction of machine grease, tiny metal filings, dirt, and other material.) On the two specimens I have seen photos of, the lower obverse inscription is simply GONE, with little or no evidence of a "struck-through-grease" appearance to the coins. About 6 specimens reported.
Struck Through Grease Errors - Numerous typical struck through grease error specimens are known. These are not uncommon, and unless they're extreme, they're not worth much, if anything. There are a couple of unconfirmed reports of fingerprints struck through grease into the surface of the coin.
Doubled Edge Lettering, Coin Got Stuck - Edge lettering appears doubled or tripled in a very small section of the edge, where it seems to have gotten stuck or jolted in the edge lettering machine. The number of specimens is unknown, but they seem to be rare, although not worth very much.
Mis-Aligned Edge Lettering - The edge lettering appears with abnormal spacing compared to normal coins; one or more letters may be too close to their neighbors, or spaces may be longer or shorter than they usually are. The suspected cause is "slippage" of the coin during the ride through the edge lettering groove, perhaps from the machine being slowed down for a second, or stopped and restarted. With an unknown number of specimens, this error appears to be rare.
Mis-Aligned Edge Lettering, Type 2 - These types of coins have normal edge lettering spacing and all, but it starts in a different place when all the coins are lined up like the wheels in a safe. The specimens are usually found in groups, with several in an affected roll. The edge lettering on them all start and stop in the same place (relative to, say, the dates all being lined up,) with different spacing than 99% of the rest of the coins. This is a possible edge lettering segment die variety! Confirmed by photos, about 3 dozen specimens reported to me from 4 different sources. Total number of specimens out there is unknown.
Split or Cracked Cladding - I have seen two Washington Dollars that have minor "clamshell type" split cladding all the way around the edge. One was 360 degrees around, the other about half that. The split was very tiny, about half a millimeter or less. Others are certain to exist; you need magnification to see the cracks. Also, I found a cracked obverse clad layer while searching rolls myself. It has a teeny crack across the entire face, from one rim to the other; once again, it was not visible to the average naked eye.
Frequently Reported Washington Dollar Non-Errors
Upside-Down Edge Lettering - Upside-Down edge lettering on business strike (normal circulating dollars) is not an error. Unfortunately, the U.S. Mint Customer Service Agents (their call center) were telling people who called in to ask that upside edge lettering on regular circualtion strike coins was an error. This created a lot of confusion, and took numerous conversations with the call center supervisors and managers to set the record straight. No sooner had the scores of emails a day about this finally tapered off, than they started anew! I finally had to call an executive at the U.S. Mint and ask him to intervene. Folks, no matter what the U.S. Mint Call Center tells you, upside-down edge lettering is NOT an error unless the coin is in (or came from) a Proof Set from the Mint.Slightly Raised "Extra" Letters on the Edge - These are not errors. Because the edge lettering is incused (sunken into the edge,) we are seeing a relatively new phenomenon where these incused edge letters are producing raised images on the edges of other Presidential Dollar coins during manufacture at the mint, possibly during the vacuuming-up process that loads the coins into the feeder for the edge lettering segment. Whatever the cause, raised impressions of extra edge letters are not errors. Depending upon how the collecting community receives and grades this new phenomenon, this entry might be moved down to "damage." Details about this phenomenon can be found in the Presidential Edge Lettering Errors article.
Damage and Miscellaneous Finds
Extra Ring Around the Obverse (or Reverse) - These rings, about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch or so away from the rim (on one or the other of the faces of the coin) are caused by coin wrapping machines that are pressing the crimped end too roughly against the roll of coins, thereby damaging the coin on the end.Buffy Dollars - These are faked plain edge dollars, where some enterprising thief has used a dremel or other tool to buff off the inscription on the edge of the dollar, hoping to pass it off as a genuine plain edge specimen. Here is some information about how to detect Buffy Dollars.
Note: This list is not complete, because new errors are always being found. If you have an error you would like to contribute (or if you see that I have missed a known error) please let me know. Please include photos, if you have them, to documement the error coin.
