I need some help with this one..

[donna]

Hi Im new here, my name donna.. nice to meet you all.
I came here looking for help, I belong to another coin forum, and posted this there too.. for help. I did get some ideals, but Still don't understand what I have. So I come here... Would you please take a look and tell me what this Variety/error is. Does it happen very often? I looked for anything close to something looking like this, on the net and never did find anything. I do understand that if I knew what I was looking for it would help.. but as you can see I don't.
I it found myself, I opened the roll, and it came looking just like this.. I do wear my coin glove's when looking, so it's never been touched. ok well here it is. I put lots of photo's so you can see it well.. close up, and some really close.. I hope it's ok to post this many photo's.. if you click them they enlarge.. donna

[garryn]

Hi Donna. You didnt say what the coin is. I assume its a Presidential Dollar. Washington or Adams? I dont see an error there either. Can you describe what you believe the error is? It doesnt seem to be a doubled motto.

[donna]

oops sorry

This is a Jefferson Dollar-P
It has a split that runs around most of the edge, it's thicker in some places, and deeper in some places,and it seems to be under most of the most of the letters. over some of them..
By the In God some of the edge is gone.. look close in the first photo, it show's it.. In the last one it show's where the split start's or ends.. and all of them show the split going under and over the different letters.
Thanks for looking garryn
donna

[garryn]

Maybe someone will correct me but it sounds like the beginnings of a lamination, where the coin begins to split in a crossection. Is there any separation at all? Or just the lines? The second to last photo is hard to visualize, but it appears maybe the edge was struck with something? The first three photos, I cant make out what is there at all. It almost looks like the coin split somehow. Particularly the third photo from the top. Or is that an illusion of some sort?

Garry

[donna]

Garryn.. Thank You for looking and posting..
*you said any separation at all?* Im not sure what you mean.. if you mean that split, grove.. im pretty sure it's got separation there. Line you said.. Those are split places/groves in the edge of the coin not just lines. *you said The second to last photo is hard to visualize, but it appears maybe the edge was struck with something?* That's the R on the edge,, it's a close up shot to show you..that that grove/split runs under the letters. You couldn't tell that? and no Im pretty sure it hasn't been struck by something, there are no dents, just a split edge. The first three photos, I cant make out what is there at all. Funny thing is..I thought they were great photo's.. They show the split very well.. I thought. an illusion of some sort? .... No.. I don't play games.. I found what I think is a Great Find. and I took so many photo's trying to get some good enough so I could use them to get some help.
Thank You for all you help Garry.. It's been a real pleasure meeting you.. donna

[diamond]

It appears that there is an incomplete bond between the outer clad layer and the copper core. I've never before seen an incipient separation that runs along the entire edge. When the separation is greater, so that the clad layer lifts up, it's called a "clamshell separation". This seems a little bit different. It's an interesting find.

[garryn]

Donna, if you took anything I said as negative, I apologise. When I mentioned the word "illusion" I was referring to my perception of the photo, not a camera trick. Sometimes it is difficult to apply context to magnified images.

[donna]

That's ok Garry, Im sorry too, it's just that.. Well I am one of the most truthful people you could ever meet, and I really love this hobby.. and yes I thought you were saying I did something wrong.. When I didn't..
Im sorry too..please forgive me.. donna

[donna]

Thank You for looking Mr. Diamond... Im so glad you agree that it is indeed a good find. Now.. may I ask you if it's something that would be worth sending in to a grading service?
donna

[wavysteps]

Hi Donna - Welcome to the forum and on top of that a nice find to boot.

To give you an answer of whether to encapsulate or not depends upon a few things and it is a dilemma that we have all faced. The first task is to find just what your error coin is. I know that Mike Diamond has an idea that it may be an incomplete bonding of the outer core to the inner copper core, however, to make the correct diagnosis of just what is happening to this coin, an in hand examination is the first of what should be done. CONECA does have error coin examiners and they can be found on the CONECA main page, under "categories" (left side of the page). Click on "Attribution Services" and then "Error Examiners".

The reason why to do this first is that if you do send your coin in to a "Grading" company for encapsulation without an attribution, you are left at the grading services' examiner mercy as to what they want to call it. While those companies are good, often the description is not what the submitter would like to see on the encapsulation.

Once an examiner (form CONECA or another source) has seen your coin and determined what it is, it will be put in writing just what that error is. You then can decide, upon the rarity and condition of the coin, whether or not to have it encapsulated. If you do want to follow through with the encapsulation of the coin, it would be advisable to contact that company that you selected and see if they will encapsulate your coin with the examiners findings. Even following these precautions, some grading companies use the findings of their own examiners as to what they will encapsulate that coin as.

After you have decided what company will encapsulate your coin, follow their directions for submission and enclose the examiners findings (a copy is best) and sit back and wait.

I hope that this helps you decide what to do. Some people rush to judgment and send their finds off in hopes that they will return as the error or variety that they saw. This, at times, leads to disappointment and frustration, aimed at the grading companies, when they are not to blame.

BJ Neff

[donna]

Hi Wavysteps, Thank You for the welcome. Well, while I do and will think about sending it in.. I doubt I'll do it.. Seems like a lot of trouble.. As I said I'll have to think about it. Most of the errors I find I sell anyway, But something like this.. that I haven't seen before, I might just keep for myself. Of everything I sell, I always keep a couple. For now as you said.. I want to find out what it really is* for sure*.
Mr. Diamond has agreed that it is an error, and I sent photo's in to another who wrote back to me today, and he too said it appears to be a legitimate error. He said he would like to examine it and photograph it further. I just checked my mail, and seen that I had this post to answer, and his letter, so I need to go write back to him too. I buy coins from the mint everytime they come out, and I also go get them from the bank to look through for errors, it's something I really enjoy.. but this is the first time I ran across an error this odd. It feels good to find something different, and for others to agree that it is a true error... Thank you BJ for all the information.. donna

[terry_ban@hotmail.com]

question

Hi Donna, Is that a John Adams dollar?I have the double edge lettering and the plain edge and wonder if you know what the estimated mintage of the plain varity is.Nice to talk with you........Terry,