Error Coin Collecting: Modern Dollars from 1979

Editor’s note: Following is an introduction from Stan McDonald, who comes to Numismatic News with error expertise.

I am a lifelong coin collector who began collecting coins in 1962, intrigued by finding a 1909 Lincoln cent with a VDB on the coin’s reverse side. This one coin launched my passion for collecting in the 1960s, and I collected all the denominations and sets of coins I could afford. By the 1970s, most of the silver and wheat cents had disappeared from circulation, so I began to attend coin shows, seeking some of the coins I was missing for my collection.

In the late 1990s, I established SMCCoins LLC, bought coins from people, auctions and estate sales for my collection, and to sell to collectors. In 2007, I dissolved SMCCoins LLC and focused my attention on searching and collecting error coins.

In 2010, I wrote and self-published my first coin guide, which continues with success. I attend every major auction I can, taking photos of error