The "same date, differing type"(transition year),
method for collecting and showing U.S. type coins
By John H. MacMillan Ph.D.
A type set is generally defined as a collection that contains one, and only one, of each design for a series or complete coinage series. For example, a complete type set of 3 cent silver will be only 3 pieces while a complete type set of U.S. circulating coins would contain one of each design type from half cents through bullion platinum and from 1792 to the present. Major design types are usually supplemented with variations such as coins with and without arrows, rays, drapery or mottoes. A collector can decide which varieties to include as a matter of personal preference. Many collectors further fine tune their set by including only certain date or mint mark variations. Some of the most common are:
a) Collecting the first date of a type series if there are multiple dates, for example 1932 for a silver washington quarter and 1965 for a clad washington quarter. Of interest to serious collectors but not an eye catcher for a novice or non collector. There is historical significance for serious collectors.
b) Collecting the last date of a type series if there are multiple dates, for example 1916 for a Barber quarter and 1930 for a standing liberty quarter. Comments as in a) above.
c) Collecting only dates from a certain mint, D,O CC etc. This option will not be available for every type series and again does not give a novice or non collector any additional stimulation to collect. Obvious historical significance for serious collectors.
d) Collecting the rarest date in a type series. An alternative for well to do collectors only. An example would be a 1916-D to illustrate the mercury dime or a 1877 to illustrate an indian cent! This is a good option to interest novices and non collectors, as they will be intrigued by the value of rare items. Not of great historical interest.
e) Collecting important dates in a person's life, birthdays, anniversaries etc (limited to 20th or 21st century for most!). Of historical interest only to the collector, not other collectors or the general public.
Another method in which both much historical information, and an illustration of the magnitude of the design modifications can be combined in a pleasing fashion to numismatic novices is to show, side by side, cases where both the old and new type were issued in one date year. In these transition years both the old and new type were manufactured for general circulation. Many historical and numismatic facts can be illustrated in showing same date coins from these transition years together. For example, a 1916 Barber quarter, paired with a 1916 standing liberty quarter, with mintage figures shown below the coins, illustrates the new, very radical design of the Standing quarter, contrasted with the staid Barber series. The mintages suggest to us the reality that the low mintage standing quarter was issued late in the calendar year. Examples of the dual type or "twin" types abound in the U.S. series. Even some "triplets" (3 types in one year) exist. Of course, "quintets" exist for the entire state quarter series. A good name for this variation of type collecting is hard to come by. "Same date" type collecting or "transition year" type collecting are possibilities.
I have identified three major and one minor categories for displaying twin or higher same date type coin displays.
CATEGORY A , SAME DENOMINATION, TWO OR MORE MAJOR DESIGN TYPES, SAME YEAR,
In this category, the same "denomination", such as a large cent or three cent silver is shown in two types with the same issue date. A 1938-D buffalo nickel paired with a 1938 Jefferson nickel is a category A. They could be categorized as "twins" (non identical obviously) or a "transition year pair".
CATEGORY B, SAME DENOMINATION, SAME DESIGN TYPE, SAME YEAR, DIFFERENT ALLOY
In this category, the same type, such as a indian cent with shield reverse, was issued with differing alloys in the same year, in this case 1864, where both copper nickel and bronze versions were issued. Sometimes an interesting story accompanies this change, such as in 1982 when a perceived impending copper price explosion prompted the government to change alloys "mid stream" during the calendar year.
SUB CATEGORY AB, SAME DENOMINATION, DIFFERENT DESIGN TYPE, SAME YEAR, DIFFERENT ALLOY
These are category A where the alloy was also changed in the transition year. With the exception of the state quarter series, the alloy changes were minor. As examples one set is a 1937 capped bust half dime in 0.8924 silver paired with a 1837 liberty seated no stars half dime in 0.900 silver, while another is a 1834 capped half eagle in 0.9167 gold paired with a 1834 classic head half eagle in 0.8992 gold. These small alloy changes are not visible to the eye, so they will not interest non collectors. However the reasons behind the change can be of interest to collectors and historians. The 1834 alloy changes were to lower the gold content so as to prevent melting. The "old tenor" capped head gold pieces had gold content greater than face value.
CATEGORY C , DIFFERENT DENOMINATION, SAME FACE VALUE, SAME YEAR
This category is admittedly stretching the concept a bit. A collector can illustrate, side by side, totally differing denominations with the same face value, such as a Morgan Dollar, trade dollar and Gold dollar from the same year. While obviously of interest to novices and non collectors, the displays also can illustrate major financial policies and political struggles of bygone eras. What "crazy" government financial policies or politics could prompt the U.S. mint to issue three radically different "dollar" coins in the same year during periods of the nineteenth century? Many other twin or triplet displays of category C have tales to tell.
Below I have tabulated examples of these three categories that can be dug out of the standard "Red Book" of U.S. Coins by R.S. Yeoman. Sub category AB is noted in the table for category A except for the state quarters, which are more appropriate listed in category B. Obviously not all different types have same date examples, but in those instances that a pairing or higher is possible such a display is an interesting and crowd pleasing method of conveying numismatic and financial history. For those multitype denominations where no date overlap between types occurs, pairing the last date of the older type with the first date of the new type is a logical alternative. If the dates are contiguous the display is still visually appealing. For example in the half dollar type series, a 1915 Barber half (any mint) would be matched with a 1916 (any mint) liberty walking half dollar.
U.S. |
CIRCULATING |
TYPE COINS WITH MORE THAN ONE DESIGN TYPE OR ALLOY MINTED WITH THE SAME DATE | ||||
CATEGORY A , SAME DENOMINATION, TWO OR MORE MAJOR TYPES, SAME YEAR |
||||||
DENOMINATION |
DATE(S) |
TYPE |
MULTIPLICITY |
|||
LARGE CENT |
1793 |
CHAIN* | ||||
LARGE CENT |
1793 |
WREATH | TRIPLETS |
|||
LARGE CENT |
1793 |
LIBERTY CAP | ||||
* IF CHAIN |
"AMERI" AND |
"AMERICA" |
INCLUDED = |
QUARTETS |
||
LARGE CENT |
1793-5 |
LIBERTY CAP | LETTERED EDGE | TWINS |
||
LARGE CENT |
1793-5 |
LIBERTY CAP | PLAIN EDGE | |||
LARGE CENT |
1796 |
LIBERTY CAP |
TWINS |
|||
LARGE CENT |
1796 |
DRAPED BUST |
||||
LARGE CENT |
1835 |
MATRON HEAD | TWINS |
|||
LARGE CENT |
1835 |
YOUNG HEAD | ||||
CENT |
1909 |
INDIAN | ||||
CENT |
1909 |
LINCOLN | V.D.B. | TRIPLETS |
||
CENT |
1909 |
LINCOLN | NO V.D.B. | |||
NICKEL |
1867 |
SHIELD | RAYS | TWINS |
||
NICKEL |
1867 |
SHIELD | NO RAYS | |||
NICKEL |
1883 |
SHIELD | ||||
NICKEL |
1883 |
LIBERTY | TYPE 1 | TRIPLETS |
||
NICKEL |
1883 |
LIBERTY | TYPE 2 | |||
NICKEL |
1913 |
BUFFALO | TYPE 1 | TWINS |
||
NICKEL |
1913 |
BUFFALO | TYPE 2 | |||
NICKEL |
1913 |
LIBERTY* | OR TRIPLETS |
|||
| *UNAUTHORIZED ISSUE | ||||||
NICKEL |
1938-D |
BUFFALO | TWINS |
|||
NICKEL |
1938 |
JEFFERSON | ||||
NICKEL |
2004 |
PEACE | TWINS |
|||
NICKEL |
2004 |
KEELBOAT | ||||
NICKEL |
2005 |
BISON | ||||
NICKEL |
2005 |
OCEAN IN | VIEW | TWINS |
||
HALF DIME |
1837 |
CAPPED BUST | 0.8924 silver | TWINS |
||
HALF DIME |
1837 |
L.S. NO STARS | 0.9000 silver | SUBCATEGORY AB |
||
HALF DIME |
1838-O |
L.S. NO STARS | TWINS |
|||
HALF DIME |
1838 |
STARS | NO DRAPERY | |||
DIME |
1828 |
CAPPED BUST | LARGE DIAMETER | TWINS |
||
DIME |
1828 |
CAPPED BUST | SMALL DIAMETER | |||
DIME |
1837 |
CAPPED BUST | 0.8924 silver | TWINS |
||
DIME |
1837 |
L.S. NO STARS | 0.9000 silver | SUBCATEGORY AB |
||
DIME |
1838-O |
L.S. NO STARS | TWINS |
|||
DIME |
1838 |
STARS | ||||
DIME |
1853 |
NO ARROWS | TWINS |
|||
DIME |
1853 |
ARROWS |
||||
DIME |
1860-S |
STARS OBV | TWINS |
|||
DIME |
1860 OR O |
LEGEND OBV | ||||
DIME |
1916 OR S | BARBER | TWINS |
|||
DIME |
1916 PDS | MERCURY | ||||
QUARTER |
1838 |
CAPPED BUST | 0.8924 silver | TWINS |
||
QUARTER |
1838 |
L.S. NO STARS |
0.9000 silver | SUBCATEGORY AB |
||
QUARTER |
1853 |
L.S. |
NO MOTTO | TWINS |
||
QUARTER |
1853,O |
L.S. |
ARROWS | |||
QUARTER |
1873 |
WITH MOTTO | TWINS |
|||
QUARTER |
1873 |
ARROWS | ||||
QUARTER |
1916,D |
BARBER |
TWINS |
|||
QUARTER |
1916 |
LIBERTY |
STANDING |
|||
QUARTER |
1917,D,S |
STANDING LIBERTY |
NO STARS | TWINS |
||
QUARTER |
1917,D,S |
STANDING LIBERTY |
STARS |
|||
QUARTERS |
1999-2008 |
STATE |
QUINTUPLETS | |||
HALF |
1807 |
DRAPED BUST | TWINS |
|||
HALF |
1807 |
CAPPED BUST | ||||
HALF |
1836 |
CAPPED BUST | 0.8924 silver | TWINS |
||
HALF |
1836 |
REEDED EDGE | 0.9000 silver | SUBCATEGORY AB |
||
HALF |
1839-O |
REEDED EDGE | "HALF DOL" |
TRIPLETS |
||
HALF |
1839 |
L.S. |
NO DRAPERY |
|||
HALF |
1839 |
L.S. |
DRAPERY |
|||
HALF |
1853-O |
L.S. |
NO MOTTO | TWINS |
||
HALF |
1853,O |
L.S. ARROWS | AND RAYS | |||
HALF |
1873, CC |
MOTTO |
TWINS |
|||
HALF |
1873, CC |
ARROWS |
||||
SILVER DOLLAR |
1795 |
FLOWING |
HAIR | TWINS |
||
SILVER DOLLAR |
1795 |
DRAPED BUST |
SMALL EAGLE | |||
SILVER DOLLAR |
1798 |
SMALL EAGLE |
TWINS |
|||
SILVER DOLLAR |
1798 |
HERALDIC |
EAGLE | |||
SILVER DOLLAR |
1836 | GOBRECHT | STARS REV | TWINS |
||
SILVER DOLLAR |
1836 | GOBRECHT | NO STARS* | * RESTRIKE |
||
SILVER DOLLAR |
1921 |
MORGAN |
TWINS |
|||
SILVER DOLLAR |
1921 |
PEACE |
HIGH RELIEF |
|||
SILVER DOLLAR |
1922 |
PEACE |
HIGH RELIEF |
TWINS |
||
SILVER DOLLAR |
1922 | PEACE | LOW RELIEF | |||
GOLD DOLLAR |
1854-D-S |
TYPE 1 |
TWINS |
|||
GOLD DOLLAR |
1854 |
TYPE 2 |
||||
GOLD DOLLAR |
1856-S |
TYPE 2 |
TWINS |
|||
GOLD DOLLAR |
1856,D |
TYPE 3 |
||||
QUARTER EAGLE |
1796 |
STARS |
TWINS |
|||
QUARTER EAGLE |
1796 |
NO STARS |
||||
QUARTER EAGLE |
1834 |
CAPPED BUST |
0.9167 GOLD |
TWINS |
||
QUARTER EAGLE |
1834 |
CLASSIC HEAD NO MOTTO |
0.900 GOLD |
SUBCATEGORY AB |
||
| FOUR DOLLAR | 1879,80 | LIBERTY | FLOWING HAIR* | TWINS |
||
| FOUR DOLLAR | 1879,80 | LIBERTY | COILED HAIR* | * PATTERNS |
||
HALF EAGLE |
1795 |
SMALL EAGLE |
TWINS |
|||
HALF EAGLE |
1795 |
HERALDIC |
EAGLE |
|||
HALF EAGLE |
1807 |
CAPPED BUST |
TO RIGHT |
TWINS |
||
HALF EAGLE |
1807 |
CAPPED BUST |
TO LEFT |
|||
HALF EAGLE |
1829 |
CAPPED, HEAD |
LEFT, LARGE |
TWINS |
||
HALF EAGLE |
1829 |
CAPPED, HEAD |
LEFT, SMALL |
|||
HALF EAGLE |
1834 |
CAPPED, HEAD LEFT, SMALL |
0.9167 GOLD |
TWINS |
||
HALF EAGLE |
1834 |
CLASSIC HEAD |
0.900 GOLD |
SUBCATEGORY AB |
||
HALF EAGLE |
1866-S |
CORONET |
NO MOTTO |
TWINS |
||
HALF EAGLE |
1866,S |
CORONET |
MOTTO |
|||
HALF EAGLE |
1908 |
CORONET |
MOTTO |
TWINS |
||
HALF EAGLE |
1908 |
INDIAN HEAD |
||||
EAGLE |
1797 |
SMALL EAGLE |
TWINS |
|||
EAGLE |
1797 |
LARGE EAGLE |
||||
EAGLE |
1866-S |
CORONET |
NO MOTTO |
TWINS |
||
EAGLE |
1866,S |
CORONET |
MOTTO |
|||
EAGLE |
1907,D,S |
CORONET |
MOTTO |
TWINS |
||
EAGLE |
1907 |
INDIAN HEAD |
NO MOTTO* |
|||
| * IF NO | PERIODS | VARIETY | INCLUDED = | TRIPLETS | ||
EAGLE |
1908,D | INDIAN HEAD |
NO MOTTO |
TWINS |
||
EAGLE |
1908,D,S | INDIAN HEAD |
WITH MOTTO |
|||
DOUBLE EAGLE |
1861,O,S | CORONET |
NORMAL REVERSE | TWINS |
||
DOUBLE EAGLE |
1861,S | CORONET |
PACQUET REVERSE | |||
DOUBLE EAGLE |
1866-S |
CORONET |
NO MOTTO |
TWINS |
||
DOUBLE EAGLE |
1866,S |
CORONET |
MOTTO |
|||
DOUBLE EAGLE |
1907,D,S |
CORONET |
MOTTO |
|||
DOUBLE EAGLE |
1907 |
ST GAUDENS |
R.N. HIGH RELIEF |
TRIPLETS |
||
DOUBLE EAGLE |
1907 |
ST GAUDENS |
ARABIC, LOW |
|||
RELIEF |
||||||
DOUBLE EAGLE |
1908,D |
ST GAUDENS |
NO MOTTO |
TWINS |
||
DOUBLE EAGLE |
1908,D |
ST GAUDENS |
MOTTO |
|||
CATEGORY B, SAME DENOMINATION, SAME DESIGN TYPE, SAME YEAR, DIFFERENT ALLOY |
||||||
CENT |
1864 |
INDIAN | BRONZE | TWINS |
||
CENT |
1864 |
INDIAN | COPPER NICKEL | |||
CENT |
1943-PDS |
LINCOLN |
STEEL |
TWINS |
||
CENT |
1943-PDS |
LINCOLN |
COPPER* |
|||
* PLANCHET |
||||||
ERROR |
||||||
CENT |
1974-PDS |
LINCOLN |
COPPER |
TWINS |
||
CENT |
1974 |
LINCOLN |
ALUMINUM * |
|||
| * = PATTERN | ||||||
CENT |
1982-PDS |
LINCOLN |
COPPER |
TWINS |
||
CENT |
1982-PDS |
LINCOLN |
COPPER |
|||
PLATED |
||||||
ZINC |
||||||
NICKEL |
1942 |
JEFFERSON |
NICKEL |
TWINS |
||
NICKEL |
1942 |
JEFFERSON |
SILVER |
|||
HALF DISME |
1792 | LIBERTY | SILVER* | TWINS | ||
HALF DISME |
1792 | LIBERTY | COPPER* | |||
| * = PATTERNS | ||||||
DISME |
1792 | LIBERTY | SILVER* | TWINS | ||
DISME |
1792 | LIBERTY | COPPER* | |||
| * = PATTERNS | ||||||
DIME |
1992-DATE |
ROOSEVELT |
CLAD |
TWINS |
||
DIME |
1992-DATE |
ROOSEVELT |
90% SILVER |
|||
QUARTER |
1792 | LIBERTY | WHITE METAL* | TWINS | ||
QUARTER |
1792 | LIBERTY | COPPER* | |||
| * = PATTERNS | ||||||
QUARTER |
1776-1976,D | IKE |
COPPER NICKEL | TWINS |
||
QUARTER |
1776-1976,D | IKE |
SILVER CLAD | |||
QUARTER |
1992-8-S | WASHINGTON | CLAD |
TWINS |
||
QUARTER |
1992-8-S | WASHINGTON | 90% SILVER |
|||
QUARTERS |
1999-2008 | STATE |
CLAD |
TWINS |
||
QUARTERS |
1999-2008 | STATE |
90% SILVER |
ALSO CATEGORY AB |
||
HALF |
1776-1976 |
KENNEDY |
CLAD |
TWINS |
||
HALF |
1776-1976 |
KENNEDY |
SILVER CLAD |
|||
HALF |
1992-DATE |
KENNEDY |
CLAD |
TWINS |
||
HALF |
1992-DATE |
KENNEDY |
90% SILVER |
|||
DOLLAR |
1971-4-S |
IKE |
CLAD |
TWINS |
||
DOLLAR |
1971-4-S |
IKE |
SILVER CLAD |
|||
DOLLAR |
1776-1976-D-S | IKE |
CLAD |
TWINS |
||
DOLLAR |
1776-1976-D-S | IKE |
SILVER CLAD |
|||
| DOLLAR | 2000 | SACAGAWEA | MANGANESE | TWINS | ||
| DOLLAR | 2000 | SACAGAWEA | GOLD* | |||
| * = PATTERN | ||||||
| CATEGORY C , DIFFERENT DENOMINATION, SAME FACE VALUE, SAME YEAR | ||||||
SILVER CENTER CENT |
1792 |
LIBERTY* | TWINS |
|||
BIRCH CENT |
1792 |
LIBERTY* | * = PATTERNS | |||
LARGE CENT |
1856-7 |
CORONET |
TWINS |
|||
SMALL CENT |
1856-7 |
FLYING EAGLE |
||||
3 CENT SILVER |
1865-73 |
TYPE 3 |
TWINS |
|||
3-CENT NICKEL |
1865-73 |
LIBERTY |
||||
HALF DIME |
1866 |
L.S. |
LEGEND OBV |
TWINS |
||
NICKEL |
1866 |
SHIELD |
RAYS |
|||
HALF DIME |
1867 |
L.S. |
LEGEND OBV |
|||
NICKEL |
1867 |
SHIELD |
RAYS |
TRIPLETS |
||
NICKEL |
1867 |
SHIELD |
NO RAYS |
|||
HALF DIME |
1868-73 |
L.S. |
LEGEND OBV |
TWINS |
||
NICKEL |
1868-73 |
SHIELD |
NO RAYS |
|||
SILVER DOLLAR |
1849-1854 |
L.S. |
NO MOTTO |
TWINS |
||
GOLD DOLLAR |
1849-1854-S |
TYPE 1 |
||||
SILVER DOLLAR |
1873,CC,S |
L.S. |
MOTTO |
|||
TRADE DOLLAR |
1873,CC,S |
LIBERTY |
TRIPLETS |
|||
GOLD DOLLAR |
1873 |
TYPE 3 |
||||
SILVER DOLLAR |
1878-1885 |
MORGAN |
||||
TRADE DOLLAR |
1878-1885 |
LIBERTY |
TRIPLETS |
|||
GOLD DOLLAR |
1878-1885 |
TYPE 3 |
||||
SILVER DOLLAR |
1878-1889 |
MORGAN |
TWINS |
|||
GOLD DOLLAR |
1878-1889 |
TYPE 3 |
||||
| S.B.A. DOLLAR | 1999 |
CLAD | TWINS |
|||
| AMERICAN EAGLE BULLION DOLLAR | 1999 |
SILVER | ||||
| SACAGAWEA DOLLAR | 2000-PRESENT |
CLAD | TWINS |
|||
| AMERICAN EAGLE BULLION DOLLAR | 2000-PRESENT |
SILVER | ||||
| $10.00 BULLION | 1997-PRESENT | GOLD | QUARTER OZ | TWINS |
||
| $10.00 BULLION | 1997-PRESENT | PLATINUM | TENTH OZ | |||
| $25.00 BULLION | 1997-PRESENT | GOLD | HALF OZ | TWINS |
||
| $25.00 BULLION | 1997-PRESENT | PLATINUM | QUARTER OZ | |||
| $50.00 BULLION | 1997-PRESENT | GOLD | ONE OZ | TWINS |
||
| $50.00 BULLION | 1997-PRESENT | PLATINUM | HALF OZ | |||
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