So last Thursday I was digging through my grandpa’s old coin jars again, man those things smell like attic dust. Noticed a bunch of these John Adams presidential dollar coins rattling around at the bottom. Figured they were just regular pocket change since we used to get them as change from vending machines, right?
But then I spotted one that looked kinda different. Held it under my desk lamp and rubbed the dirt off with my thumb. Saw some weird brown spots on the edge that didn’t match the others. Got out my crappy dollar store magnifying glass – the plastic kind that makes your eyes cross – and squinted at the date. Was like 2007 but something about the lettering looked sharper.
My Half-Ased Testing Method
Pulled out ten random Adams coins for comparison. Laid em all on my kitchen counter while my microwave popcorn burned:
- Checked rim thickness with my wife’s baking calipers (got yelled at later)
- Flipped every coin listening for high-pitched ringing sounds when they hit granite
- Breathed steam on each coin surface watching how rainbow oil slick patterns appeared
Nearly gave up until coin number seven did something wild. When the light hit its edge, silver streaks flashed instead of plain copper color. Grabbed my phone flashlight and almost dropped it – this thing had weird mechanical doubling around Adams’ eyebags like he had two sets of wrinkles.
The Gas Station Moment
Took it to Hank who runs the pawn shop next to the Chevron. Dude eats breath mints like candy and always calls coins “metal discs”. Even he raised his eyebrows when the coin pinged different on his glass counter. “Looks like somebody screwed up the press,” he mumbled before offering me twenty bucks for it. Noped outta there real fast.
Got home and spilled coffee all over my keyboard googling error coins. Took four hours and three frozen pizzas to learn the important stuff:
- Missing edge lettering = potentially big money if factory forgot to imprint
- Copper spotting on silver means possible minting plate error
- Real rare ones weigh 0.2 grams less than the others somehow
Turned out mine was this freaky doubled die obverse thing. Had a video call with some collector nerds who jumped out their chairs when I tilted the coin sideways. Apparently less than five hundred exist and people pay mortgage payments for these babies. Best part? Grandpa used it as a beer coaster for years thinking it was worthless.
Moral is: Always check your junk coins with a magnifying glass before spending them at laundromats. The good ones look almost broken.
