Varieties Are the Spice of Collecting

Collecting coins by date and mintmark represents one of the most popular ways to collect coins. But these date-and-mintmark sets also present collectors with a terrific springboard into another area of collecting: varieties.

A variety coin is one carrying design elements that are either intentional or unintentional variances from a coin’s primary design. Examples of intentional varieties may be found in the refinement of the size or shape of a mintmark (such as with the 1970 Small Date Lincoln Cent or the 1979-S and 1981-S Type I and Type II proof coins). Unintentional varieties are exemplified by doubled dies, repunched mintmarks, and the like (hello, 1955 Doubled Die Lincoln Cent!).

Varieties add an entirely new and dynamic element to a basic date-and-mintmark set because they enhance the complexity and challenge of the collection while also adding a new degree of rarity. After all, so many varieties are far scarcer than even the lowest-mintage key dates in those same sets.

So, too, does the addition of varieties add to the cost of “completing” these sets otherwise built solely around the successful procurement of each issue on the basis of date and mintmark. Some of the most popular varieties can set the collector back by hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Yet, it’s this thrill of the chase that compels so many collectors to pursue adding varieties to their sets.

The PCGS Set Registry recognizes the terrific demand from collectors who embrace the augmented challenge behind adding varieties to basic date-and-mintmark sets. Virtually every U.S. coin series is represented on the PCGS Set Registry with options for building either date-and-mintmark sets (or date-only sets, in the case of series produced before U.S. branch mints opened in the late 1830s) or with the addition of varieties.