Printing Errors

Printing Errors

Is that $10 bill with a Bonnie and Clyde Model-T collectible? Check your urban legends...you probably still believe alligators live in sewers. According to Snopes.com, no one ever intended to print a Model-T Ford on a $10 bill in 1928 when Bonnie and Clyde didn't rob banks until 1932. The new $10 design displays the US Department of Treasury.

However, if you became excited because of an extra leaf on your 2005 Wisconsin Statehood quarter collectible coin, you can be forgiven, because Snopes.com says that US coins with this error are valuable! (And no, conspiracy theorists, it wasn't a subliminal message signifying a UFO landing site in Wisconsin.) However, most of these coins have been found in Tucson where a dealer charged $1,499 ($500 per coin is more usual), and some of the coins made Texas collectors say yee-haw.

The Georgia Statehood quarter United States coin is slightly off-center, which boosts its value. When a coin is minted or struck, unintentional errors happen...though conspiracy theorists suggest a Mint worker created the collectible coin with the intent to profit from the mistake.

Common coin errors to look for:

* Image not centered correctly on the obverse
* Coins too thick or thin, or improperly weighted
* Upside-down print such as "One Cent" or "In God We Trust" on the reverse
* Planchette or blank-printed coins
* "Mules" or coins with two different denominations on the sides, such as a 1999 Lincoln cent with the reverse of a Roosevelt dime, a Sacagawea dollar reverse mismatched with a George Washington state quarter head, and a single Indian head penny with two Indian heads

Check with your local coin dealer. In the meantime, don't believe that story about Bill Gates sending you cash...although there might be a giant 13-foot alligator in Texas, collecting the Wisconsin Statehood error coins.