Coin reference › 50 notable error coins and die varieties
50 notable error coins and die varieties
What to look for
Off-centre strikes, clipped planchets, brockages and die cracks on the error side; doubled dies, repunched mint marks and over-mint-marks on the variety side. The question to ask first is always whether another coin could carry the same mark.
An error happens to one coin in the press; a variety happens to a die and then to every coin it strikes. Both are collected, they are worth very different things, and telling them apart is most of the work. This is fifty of each worth knowing by sight.
| Coin | Year | Mintage | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1798 P 8 Over 7 - 13 Stars | dimes-draped-bust | 1798 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1798 P 8 Over 7 - 16 Stars | dimes-draped-bust | 1798 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1798 P 8 Over 7 | large-cents-draped-bust | 1798 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1799 P 9 Over 8 | large-cents-draped-bust | 1799 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1800 P 1800 Over 1798 Style 1 Hair | large-cents-draped-bust | 1800 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1800 P 80 Over 79 Style 2 Hair | large-cents-draped-bust | 1800 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1801 P 1/100 Over 1/000 | large-cents-draped-bust | 1801 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1803 P 1/100 Over 1/000 | large-cents-draped-bust | 1803 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1805 P 5 Over 4 | half-dollars-draped-bust | 1805 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1806 P 6 Over 5 | half-dollars-draped-bust | 1806 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1806 P 6 Over Inverted 6 | half-dollars-draped-bust | 1806 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1806 P E Over A in STATES | half-dollars-draped-bust | 1806 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1807 P Small 1807 - 7 Over 6 - Blunt 1 | large-cents-draped-bust | 1807 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1810 P 10 Over 09 | large-cents-classic-head | 1810 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1811 P 11 Over 09 | dimes-capped-bust | 1811 | 65,180 | Error / die variety |
| 1811 P Last 1 Over 0 | large-cents-classic-head | 1811 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1812 P 2 Over 1 - Large 8 | half-dollars-capped-bust | 1812 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1815 P 5 Over 2 | half-dollars-capped-bust | 1815 | 47,150 | Error / die variety |
| 1817 P 7 Over 3 | half-dollars-capped-bust | 1817 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1817 P 7 Over 4 | half-dollars-capped-bust | 1817 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1820 P No Serifs on E's | half-dollars-capped-bust | 1820 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1824 P 4 Over 2 - Pointed Top 1 | dimes-capped-bust | 1824 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1839 P No Drapery From Elbow | half-dollars-seated-liberty | 1839 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1844 O Doubled Date | half-dollars-seated-liberty | 1844 | N/A | Die variety: doubling |
| 1847 P 7 Over 6 | half-dollars-seated-liberty | 1847 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1873 P Double Liberty | Indian Head cent | 1873 | N/A | Die variety: doubling |
| 1873 P Doubled Die Obverse | dimes-seated-liberty | 1873 | N/A | Die variety: doubling |
| 1877 P 7 Over 6 | half-dollars-seated-liberty | 1877 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1883 P 3 Over 2 | Shield nickel | 1883 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1888 P Last 8 Over 7 | Indian Head cent | 1888 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1909 P 9 Over 8 | Saint-Gaudens $20 | 1909 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1916 P Doubled Die Obverse | Buffalo nickel | 1916 | N/A | Die variety: doubling |
| 1918 D 8 Over 7 | Buffalo nickel | 1918 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1943 D Bronze/Copper | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1943 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1943 P Bronze/Copper | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1943 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1943 P Doubled Die Obverse | Washington quarter | 1943 | N/A | Die variety: doubling |
| 1943 S Bronze/Copper | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1943 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1944 D Steel Cent | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1944 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1944 P Steel Cent | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1944 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1944 S Steel Cent | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1944 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1955 P Doubled-Die Obverse | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1955 | N/A | Die variety: doubling |
| 1958 P Doubled-Die Obverse | Lincoln Wheat cent | 1958 | N/A | Die variety: doubling |
| 1961 P Doubled Die Reverse | Franklin half dollar | 1961 | N/A | Die variety: doubling |
| 1970 S Doubled Die Obverse | Lincoln Memorial / Bicentennial cent | 1970 | N/A | Die variety: doubling |
| 1971 S No S | Jefferson nickel | 1971 | 200 | Error / die variety |
| 1975-S Roosevelt proof dime - missing S | 1975 | N/A | Mint error: omitted mintmark |
| 1990 S No S Mint Mark | Lincoln Memorial / Bicentennial cent | 1990 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1992 D Close AM | Lincoln Memorial / Bicentennial cent | 1992 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 1992 P Close AM | Lincoln Memorial / Bicentennial cent | 1992 | N/A | Error / die variety |
| 2000 P "Cheerios Dollar" - Boldy Detailed Tail Feathers | Sacagawea / Native American dollar | 2000 | N/A | Error / die variety |
The difficulty
The problem with errors is telling a die variety from damage after the fact. A scratch, a strike from a coin-counting machine and a genuine die gouge can all leave a line on the metal, and once a coin is in your hand there is no history to consult.
The bench works from whether a mark is RAISED or SUNK, which is a question about the die rather than about the coin. Raised metal came from a void in the die and could be on every coin it struck; sunk metal was taken out of this one coin afterwards. Relief measured from a real light set answers it; a single photograph cannot.
Every tool, what it measures, and a plain statement of what it will NOT do - including the ones that refuse rather than guess.
See what the bench measuresMore lists
Compiled 2026-09-15. Mintages and designations are matters of record; which coins are worth a second look is an editorial judgement, and this page says so rather than pretending otherwise.
