Was it the mint error?

[michaeltam]

I'm a collector in China.I bought some presidential dollars from ebay.I found the 2012-D presidential

dollar missed the letters on the right side.The seller said 'you have an error coin quite possible a very valuable coin'.See the photo I took. Was it the mint error?Please help me.

[bstrauss3]

Is it an error? Yes.

is it worth something? Yes

 

But - unlike when the 1st few were found and sold for absurd prices - they are not all that rare.

 

Not knowing WHICH of the 4 issues it is hampers guessing on a price.

[WoodenJefferson]

Interesting way to link an image.

 

To take a wild stab, looks like a mint error where AURTHOR should be, is missing. Areas where devices are missing inside the rim are usually associated with 'strike throughs' where something like grease or an object was between the die and the soon to be coin and the devices, in this case, lettering was not able to be raised.

 

It would have been more valuable had that been a proof coin where quality control is more of an issue, but with common circulation coins, those kinds of errors escape the Mints all the time. Still, it has error value but not a significant value.

 

Nice find.

[michaeltam]

Thanks for your professional and detailed reply.

[bstrauss3]

Here is the standard page on struck-through errors ("grease")

 

http://www.error-ref.com/struck-through-smooth-viscous-material-grease-oil/

 

in this case, the grease filled those letters (letters that rise up from the surface of the coin and depressions in the die), and under the tremendous pressure of minting, can't flow out of the way - leading to areas without the design like on your coin.

[michaeltam]

So,what‘s the market price for this coin?

[Conder101]

Maybe a dollar or two if you can find someone interested in it. With the right hype on ebay you might get four or five. Grease strike throughs are very common and unless they are so big they wipe out a large portion of the design they don't draw much interest.