Cuds and Grease!

Cud- When a piece of metal chips off the die leaving a blank space on the struck coin.
Grease error- When grease gets in the die leaving some of the coin's design off, but not permanently.

Grease error.

A cud.

 Let me clarify the definitions stated above. A cud usually starts as a die crack. As more coins are struck, the die weakens further and eventually a piece of the die falls off. Usually these coins are noticed and recycled which makes them hard to get in circulation- which is oddly where I got mine (pictured above). It circulated from 1983-2012 and ended up in my hands, where it will stay. They're nice errors and can range from hardly any of the design being missing to 3/4 or more being missing. Most carry a high premium like mine does at $15.00.

On to the grease "errors". These are not really errors as they happen so often and are not caused by real die or coin defects. This so-called error occurs when grease gets between the coin and the die and has nowhere to go. It then flees to the deepest, darkest crevices of the die as the coin is struck filling in the design which would be going onto the coin. I've found plenty of these yet I have few. Why? Because they usually carry no extra value so I spend them rather than keep them.