Want to subscribe?

Get access to all of these articles, and a whole lot more, with a Coin World digital edition subscription!

Varieties Notebook: First doubled die for a 2018 Lincoln cent

John Wexler’s monthly column, “Varieties Notebook,” is driven by reader discoveries of die varieties — doubled dies, repunched Mint marks and more — both old and new. In his annual challenge to collectors, he speculates about who might be the first to report a doubled die variety for a new year’s coinage.

In his December column, he notes that a reader shared the first such find for 2018 — one on a 2018-P Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore quarter dollar — early in the year. But no such reports had been made for any of the 2018 Lincoln cents. Until now.

A doubled die obverse variety has been reported for a 2018 Lincoln cent, though none have yet been found on a 2018-D cent. To learn more about where the doubling is found on the variety, read John’s column, found only in the print and digital editions of Coin World.

Coin Values Spotlight: 1929 Indian Head gold coins

In his “Coin Values Spotlight” column for the Dec. 17 issue of Coin World, Paul Gilkes explores the 1929 Indian Head gold quarter eagle and half eagle, both of which were the last in the series. 

The mintage for the half eagle was higher than the mintage for the quarter eagle, and yet the $5 coin is the much more expensive coin today, by far. Still, the 1929 half eagle is positioned right in the middle of the 24-coin series in terms of rarity, Paul writes.

To read more about the creation of the coin and its current and historical pricing, read the article exclusive to the print and digital editions of the Dec. 17 Coin World.

The Joys of Collecting: Study your coins closely

Q. David Bowers challenges readers to study their coins closely in the latest installment of his weekly column “The Joys of Collecting.” Not doing so can result in a collector missing some of the charms a coin may hold.

He references a class he once taught, in which he asked students to look at photographs of a 1794 Liberty Cap cent displayed to them and then to raise their hands when done. Most students raised their hands after a few seconds; none took more than a half minute.

David explained to the class the many details of the coin: how its dies were made, how it was struck. And he discusses in his column one of the most famous of 1794 Liberty Cap cents — the Starred Reverse variety, whose most important feature could be missed in a cursory examination. Learn more about why observing a coin closely can be a satisfying exercise for a reader by reading David’s column in the Dec. 17 issue of Coin World.