1867 Inverted Die on 3 Cent Nickel?

[flyank]

Unfortunately this coin is in poor condition, but when I flip the coin about the normal horizontal axis, the coin's reverse appears upside down with bow at the top. Is this somewhat common for this coin and date? I did Google searching but have come up empty handed. Also, I used various light sources to help with date identification....... Thanks for any info!

[Merlin8971]

180 degree rotation

This sounds like a coin that was struck with the reverse die rotated 180 degrees from the position the reverse was supposed to be in. This is usually a fairly rare occurance. Personally, I have only found two coins with this particular error. Even though the coin is quite worn there should still be some added value since the coin is rotated 180 degrees.

[flyank]

Thanks Merlin. Its my luck that the one rotated die I find is on a coin of poor condition!

[Merlin8971]

Keep Looking

Well, you'll just have to keep looking. The rotated die coins are really hard to find. I have only found three coins that were rotated more than 45 degree. I found an 1859 flying eagle penny with a 85 dergree rotation, a jefferson nickel with a 180 degree rotation and a Washignton quarter with a 180 degree rotation.

This is one of the rarer errors.

[flyank]

I would gather that although rare...it lacks value (except to me as my 1st 180 degree rotated die).

[wavysteps]

Nice find though.

BJ Neff

[Merlin8971]

Strike It Rich

The book "Strike It Rich With Pocket Change" lists a 1965 Washington Quarter that has an 180 degree rotation in Extra Fine condition at $50, About Uncirculated $150 and Uncirculated at $300. At least this gives a ballpark idea of what it would be worth.

Whatever the market would bear.

[flyank]

Is a coin in this state worth the price of having slabbed as genuine and annotated with the rotated die error? I have been unsuccessful in finding this error listed anywhere else for this particular date/coin. Thanks as always.....

[Merlin8971]

It Would Be Nice

It would be nice if one of the experts would give you a general idea of the value......BUT good luck with that!

Personally, I CANNOT fathom why the "experts" on this site are SO closed-lipped on values of coins. The "experts" on this site avoid placing values on coins like the plague. BUT, REALLY.......ISN'T THAT THE POINT OF COLLECTING COINS?????????? Coin collecting IS NOT like "scrap-booking" where the value is a personal thing.

IF ONE OF YOU EXPERTS WOULD LIKE TO EXPLAIN WHY COIN VALUES ARE SO TABOO, I certainly would like to read that.

The coin obviously would have some premium value because of the rotation. However, since the coin is in rather poor condition, I would think there would not be enough value to have it slabbed and authenticated. You may just have to be satisfied in knowing the coin you own IS, in fact a 180 degree rotation error and put it in your collection with that in mind.

An example I would site, is that I own (8) 1998-P "Wide AM" pennies. Six are near or are uncirculated, therefore have a fairly decent premium value to them, but two are not better than extra fine, which obviously have a lesser premium on them, so they are just for my collection and I would not have the two coins slabbed. Of course, I mostly would not slab any 1998-P "Wide AM" coin because it is SO obviously an error. The 1998-P "Wide AM" is NOT a high value coin (approximately $35) which mean one would pay about the value of the coin, to get it slabbed and authenticated. But then that is my point of view. This is NOT true for a 1999-P "Wide AM" because the 1999-P has a much higher value than a 1998-P "Wide AM."

What you MAY want to do is to watch, say, EBay for 180 degree slabbed and authenticated coins and look up any values (if any) associated with the slabbed rotated reverse coins. It might give you a "ball-park" idea of the value.

Again, the true value of a coin is what someone is willing to pay for the coin.

[flyank]

Thanks as always for your insight Merlin...very much appreciated. I am new to the error field so my questions and the forum answers are quite helpful in my education. Even a simple...yes I would slab it...or no I wouldn't would be welcomed. Right now I am following your advice and just protecting it in a flip that I have annotated as a 180 degree rotated die. My value is in the discovery at this point