BOOK REVIEW: OVERDATES

I recently received a copy of "Overdates, The Top U.S. Die Variety," by Kevin Flynn. Like many, I have long been fascinated by overdates and why and how they are/were produced. Some overdates, particularly those from the earliest years of the Mint, are very obvious and were produced by punching a new digit over a preexisting one, often without much, if any attempt to remove the original digit. Some spectacular 20th century overdates, like the 1918/7-D nickel, 1918/7-S quarter and the 1942/1 dime were created by the use of different hubs. Many other overdates require a strong glass and patience to identify.

If you like good pictures of overdates, all of them are clearly illustrated by substantial enlargement. Many are illustrated in color.

But this is not just a book with pretty pictures and descriptions of spectacular coins. It is deeply researched and clearly written. I was particularly happy to see a number of what Flynn calls "refuted" (I would prefer "debunked") overdates. I was pleased to see that he doesn't bow to current auction listings or the Red Book. He spends ten pages explaining convincingly why the alleged 1914/3 Buffalo nickel is NOT an overdate. The first refuted overdate in the book is the so-called 1809/6 or 1809/inverted 9 half cent. The variety is a repunched 9, and I hope that this fact finally makes it into the mainstream with the publication of his book.

He describes eleven 1880 Morgan dollar overdates and goes to some length to explain how so many could exist. They show very little of the underlying digit(s), but his arguments and photos are convincing, and each seems to be a VAM variety.

One inconsistency stands out to me. On p. 6 he claims that approximately 112 overdates are known on US coins, and on page 187 he claims that the number is approximately 200. That's a big difference. (No, I did not feel the need to the count overdates described in the text.) Also, it could have used a bit more aggressive editing for the inevitable typos and the like that don't affect the information or conclusions, but annoy people like me. The title describes overdates as the top variety, mixing plural and singular, but I can live with that.

Overall, I think this is an important and interesting book that should appeal to many collectors of US coins, and am very happy to recommend it. I'm sure I'll be referring to it many times.

 

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NEW BOOK: OVERDATES (https://www.coinbooks.org/v29/esylum_v29n06a05.html)

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