Error-Variety Ready Reference
Yet none of these sources is complete or entirely accurate, at least when it comes to documenting the vast range of mishaps that occur at all stages of the minting process. The Error-Variety Ready Reference is designed to fill the remaining gaps and correct the occasional mistake.
Error-ref.com is a comprehensive illustrated glossary of every conceivable defect associated with the minting process. It will contain detailed illustrated descriptions of hundreds of basic error types, numerous subtypes, and assorted effects associated with them. It is not designed to cover compound errors and multiple errors, as these occur in an infinite number of combinations and permutations. It is also not intended to be a catalog of specific coins and dies.
The Ready Reference is built upon a framework provided by a 22-page Comprehensive Error-Variety Checklist that was compiled by Mike Diamond some years back and that he continually updates. The checklist is available on this website.
An online glossary has some advantages over “dead tree” formats. There are no page limits. Every photo can be a color photo. There is no limit on the number of photos. The website can be continually updated and any mistakes can be immediately corrected. New information can be incorporated with a few keystrokes. Readers can contact the site editors with suggestions, ask for clarification, or ask that a particular entry be expedited or expanded. Naturally, no resource can be entirely free of mistakes or omissions, so we welcome your corrections.
We hope you find this site helpful and welcome your input.
– Mike Diamond, BJ Neff, Jeff Ylitalo, and Jason Cuvelier