Die Caps - A Strange and Fun Error
By Brad Hall
Some errors just tickle the fancy and that can be said of the die caps error coin to be sure. This is a bit of a strange error as well and not one that occurs on a regular basis either. Of course there is good and bad with everything but little is more fun than finding one of these coins in your daily search.
Die caps are nothing more than a coin that is struck and somehow sticks to the die. With the coin still in place the dies continue to strike more and more coins, which are made in error. Eventually the die caps fall off as they are badly worn and terribly misshapen in the end. The end result is some very neat error coins that the collectors just seem to love.
Coins that are struck through die caps have very little if any detail on the side where the cap occurs. I have seen some that have smeared details and also those that appear to be nearly blank. Both of these types of strikes are fairly valuable depending on the denomination and are very much a pleasure to find.
The real rarity is to get the actual die cap itself. This is very difficult because the die caps are in terrible shape by the time they fall off the die and do not resemble a coin for the most part. A few examples of die caps have made it out of the mint but they reside in private collections. There is little chance that a die cap is going to make it out of the mint anymore with the riddlers in place but there is always hope.
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When looking into die caps you are best to look for the coins that have been struck through the capped die. These are not too hard to find and they come in various shapes and sizes. Sometimes the coin itself is smashed or out of shape when struck through a capped die and that makes it all the more valuable.
Look for coins that have one side nearly blank but oddly struck nonetheless. Chances are this coin was struck through a capped die and will make a nice addition to your collection.
About the Author
Brad Hall is the editor of http://us-mint-coins.blogspot.com the number one resource for US mint error coin information anywhere on the web.
