U.S. Error Coin Guide 2026: Beginner-Friendly Edition.
Note to collectors
Amazon's low self-publishing barriers enable publishers to produce fraudulent biographies with AI-generated photos, fake editorial reviews, and misleading content. These books often exploit those unfamiliar with error coins for profit.
How to spot these books: - The author uses a pseudonym resembling an old British name to obscure the book's origin.
- The author's photo depicts an elderly person, has an anachronistic background, or appears overly symmetrical, suggesting AI generation.
- The author claims prominence or affiliations with numismatic organizations.
- The coin photographs are plagiarized from numismatic organizations.
- The book cover features an American flag to deceive people.
- The cover displays foreign or unusual coins.
- The book is under 100 pages, minimizing printing costs to maximize profit.
- Hundreds of reviews appear within a month, indicating a paid review scheme.
- The content contains misleading statements or inaccuracies.
Credible Authors Ken Potter and Brian Allen
Bill Fiaz and J.T. Stanton
R.S. Yeoman
Jeff Garrett
Kenneth Bressett
Stan McDonald (former contributor to
Numismatic News)
This book is written for new collectors who want to learn about coin collecting and the fastest-growing area of collecting error coins. First published 16 years ago with 1,000 error coin listings, it now includes over 3,200 listings, enriched with data from Florida auctions covering 47,000+ coins, making it the only guide with realized auction values.
The contents of this book have been written with 60 years of experience in numismatics, education and research, and authoring articles for coin magazines. Collectors are provided with contact information to ask questions about error coins.
This book also contains 55 error types with photos and accurate descriptions that can be used as a reference for collectors to compare potential finds. It also has an extensive glossary that has been compared to major numismatic organizations to ensure accuracy.
Key Contributions: Beginner-friendly information for new collectors
- Mintmark history from 1965-
- Common error coins
- Cleaning coins
- Storage
- Copper-coated zinc Lincoln Cents
- Why RPMs occur
- Double dies
- Missing letters or details
- Coins of No significant Value
- Glossary of terms
- Realized auction results
- Eight types of doubled dies
- All known error types
Covering all recognized error coin types, this guide features photographs from the author's collection, sold coins, coin shows, and live auctions. Its primary goal is to provide collectors with accurate error coin definitions and images, endorsed by ANA, NGC, ANACS, and PCGS, alongside reliable values for confident buying and selling.
Collectors need to be concerned about self-published error coin guides listing coins as errors that do not exist, like the "In COD WE TRUST" coin, which does not exist. The effect is caused by a font design where the "G" in "GOD" resembles a "C," often due to a short stem and lack of a crossbar, or in some cases, grease-filled dies during minting. These are not true mint errors but rather a design choice or minor production issue, like worn dies or grease, which creates the visual illusion. Despite some eBay listings claiming high values (e.g., $50-$2,000), numismatic experts and forums, such as CoinHELPu and Collectors Universe, clarify these quarters are not rare and typically worth only face value (25 cents) in circulated condition.
My Guarantee: If you can find a more accurate book with a BSR (Best Seller Ranking) under 75,000 in the Amazon category of Antique & Collectible Coins & Medals, I will pay you $1,000.
