4 thoughts on “3 Rare Kansas Error Quarters To Look For! See The Value Of Each Kansas Quarter Error + The Value Of Kansas Quarters Without Errors”

1. Forums are being overrun by people getting false hopes from articles such as this one. Just like they do from youtube videos where the channel owner needs to generate income by making exciting videos.

   A modern struck through grease error (look it up, reader, at erro-ref.com) is NOT a mint error. It is a die event and is simply the result of workers polishing the die to extend the life of the die,. DIe polishing can result in any part of the design being polished off.

   Except for a few traditional ones from history (eg. 1937 3-legged buffalo nickel and 1922 No D penny) polished die coins do NOT carry any large premium. The “floating roof” pennies, “detached leg” 2005 nickel, “In God We Rust,” quarter etc. will NOT make you rich unless you have one in a slab labeled MS70. And the 150-200.00 fee you need to pay (initially) is almost certainly NOT going to get you that MS 70. The companies know by keeping down the MS70 slabs they put out, the higher the price goes for an MS70 and consequently more people will gamble the 150-200.00 to try to get an MS70 slab. The companies are a BUSINESS, keep track of the numbers of MS70s (etc.), and go where the profits lead.

   The extra tuft of hair is a common die chip – again – the only place these get any alleged extra value is on ebay (or online) where buyers eventually regret ever being suckered out of the money. Try selling one to a local coin shop.

   The “spitting Bison” is just a minor die crack that happens to look like the buffalo* is spitting. Die cracks are common and after the ebay fad wears off , almost all of the value also goes away. People end up with expensive face value (maybe a few bucks more) coins. A slabbed MS70 would command a higher price, but again, see the above about the 200.00 gamble to hope and get this on a slab.

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   • Error-ref has an entire section on strike-through grease errors, which are legitimate errors/minting anomalies that can be worth significant sums.

     While I agree there are numerous (TOO many) articles out there that hype up common pieces as “rare” (and are responsible for a great many dashed hopes) and “valuable,” I think you’ll find this article and others like it here at TheFunTimesGuide offer some of the most realistic pricing expectations around — certainly among online articles aimed toward the beginner collector and non-numismatist. We are not claiming that every coin is worth beaucoup bucks — the prices listed here are based on actual prices realized for typical specimens.

     We also state very carefully and responsibly that circulated examples are not worth the prices of uncirculated examples. Note that we cite prices that in many cases amount to just a few dollars, reflecting the fair-market trends. When we cite record prices, we state it as such and counter that with more general pricing that is more down to earth and reflects what a typical collector might pay or receive for said coin.

     The hobby needs articles that will reach and enthuse the non-collector. How else are we going to expand the collector base? There is certainly a place for scholastic numismatic literature, just as there is a place for articles that introduce elements of the hobby in ways the non-numismatist will understand and can help excite them about the coins they may find in circulation.

     I was once a collector who found a common wheat cent in circulation, sparking my interest in this hobby in the early ‘90s. I thought the coin was rare and worth a million bucks when I found it. Of course, it was worth only a few cents. But that didn’t discourage me. The excitement that find brought into my life sparked a numismatic journey that will probably last me a lifetime.

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     • Thanks for the reply. I am very familiar with error-ref.com. I send people there almost daily to help them get educated. In fact, error-ref.com links to a post I made online clarifying what an actual “dryer coin” is and how they are made.

       Above you said:
       “Because this error is fairly common, circulated versions of the 2005-P Kansas quarters with the IN GOD WE RUST error or coins that show more of the “T” are worth $20 to $30 — depending on the condition of the coin.”

       Yet an ebay search for sold “2005 In God We Rust quarters” shows none fo them sold have hit the $30.00 mark recently. the values are MUCH lower for the majority sold ranging from .25 to ~$6.00, a few scattered ones (of the 51 sold auctions I counted) sold around $6.00~$15.00, and only three hitting $20.00-$21.00! Looking at those numbers and auctions, I think it would be safe to say the majority will be a 5.00 coin (presently).

       Yet a newbie reading the above article will no doubt thinks to themselves, “Hey, I can make $20.00-30.00 a coin!” They go get some rolls, find some of the common problem coins, try to make their fortune on ebay, and quickly find out hey have wasted a lot of time and money. In fact I see a lot of people on forums who get tired of continually being told they have nothing of value (pointing them to the sources to prove it) and they end up disgusted with the coin hobby.

       Some of these people actually end up sending stuff like this into grading companies, waste a LOT of money in fees, and wonder what went wrong. I daily am trying to explain things like this to newbies who have been burned.

       The main problem in all of this is that since microscopes are so inexpensive, so many people are just now discovering the huge number of imperfections that have always been on coins. When they find something like a (common event, a) die chip that coincidentally resembles something they can give a cutesy name to, then they put it up on ebay as a “L@@K!!!! RARE NEW COIN VARIETY/ERROR” for an outrageous price hoping someone will make them rich and buy their new discovery to the coin hobby. And as typically goes, a year or so later when the buyer goes to make back his hundreds he was suckered out of, he finds he has a face value coin at worst, or a coin someone might pay a tiny premium for at best.

       That is the reality of what happens in most of these cases. I have been daily on two coin forums since 2011 helping newbies to learn the realities of the coin hobby. And the scenario above is the stark reality of what I have witnessed as a hurtful but growing trend since the early 2000s.

       And so those people whose interest we captured (almost) promising (easy) riches with non-complete information end up being embittered with the reality and want nothing more to do with coins.

       Reply

       • It’s very plausible the market has softened for this piece since I wrote this article several years ago. Of course that wouldn’t be a surprise, as this is a common trend for varieties like this that cause a stir early on and see some pricing hype, with waning prices as the market moves along to something else. I remember this particularly well with the 1995 doubled die Lincoln cent — it went for hundreds of dollars at first before market makers realized how common it was and prices sank south of $50 for most BU examples. Surely a similar situation ensued with many of the more popular state quarter varieties, too.

         At any rate, I’d be glad to revisit pricing on this variety and some of the others listed here.

         All my best,
         Josh

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