The 2007 Washington dollar upside down edge lettering variety is NOT an error!

Before I go any further, I want to direct my readers to the official US mint website, and let you read what they have to say on the subject:

Here is what the US mint has to say:

"Presidential $1 Coins With "Upside-Down" Edge-Lettering Are Not Errors

It has come to the attention of the United States Mint that some people are offering to sell so-called George Washington Presidential $1 "error" coins with "upside-down" edge-lettering on on-line auction sites. These coins are not "error" coins. The Presidential $1 Coins are inscribed on the edge without regard to their "heads" or "tails" orientation.

The edge-incused inscriptions on Presidential $1 Coins are the year of minting or issuance, "E Pluribus Unum," "In God We Trust" and the mint mark. The United States Mint incuses these inscriptions on the edge of each coin at the second step of a two-step coining process. In the first step, the blanks are fed into a coining machine which impresses the obverse and reverse designs onto the coins, and dispenses the coins into a large bin. In the second step, the bin is transported to the edge-incusing machine, into which the coins are fed at random, without regard to their "heads" or "tails" orientation. Therefore, statistically, approximately one-half of the coins produced will have edge-lettering oriented toward the "heads" side (obverse), and approximately one-half of the coins will have the edge-incused inscriptions oriented toward the "tails" side (reverse)."

Why am I writing this guide?  Sheer disgust, to be blunt.  As I was browsing completed auctions on eBay the other day, I noticed literally hundreds and thousands of auctions cluttering the search engine claiming that the upside down edge lettering variety was a "rare error", and even worse--I noticed 2 completed auctions, one for close to $500 and the other for $100, where eager/misinformed bidders had literally thrown money away at worthless, common junk.  They believed the hype, and they mistakenly believed that the upside down edge lettering was the "error" being discussed on primetime news networks.  The truth is of course, there have only been 2 verified true error coins in the Washington dollar series thus far--one is the "smooth edge" (no strike on the edge), and the other is the blank obverse (no strike on the obverse of the coin).  The upside down edge lettering is neither rare, nor an error--I cannot repeat this enough.  It is not a mint "mistake", either.

Here are some interesting facts about the new presidential dollars:

• The US mint is producing AT LEAST 1.2 BILLION OF THEM in 2007 alone.  That's over 300 million for each president.  BILLIONS OF THEM, people.  These are not rare.  By no definition of the word, can these ever be called rare.
• HALF of all presidential dollar coins will have upside down edge lettering.  Half will have rightside up edge lettering.  There is not "correct" and "mistake"--both are struck exactly as the mint intended, without care or consideration for which side of the coin was facing up when the edge lettering was applied
• These dollars are the same size and shape as the failed Sacagawea and Susan B. Anthony dollars.  Those never circulated, and THESE NEVER WILL EITHER.  What this means is that the vast majority of the BILLIONS of these dollars minted will remain in brilliant uncirculated condition.  Forever.  And ever.  Buying these for future returns would be like investing in envelopes.
• You can buy special mint rolls DIRECTLY FROM THE UNITED STATES MINT website for $35 per roll.  You can go to your local bank and buy OBW (original bank wrapped) Strings and Sons rolls AT FACE VALUE.  That's $1 per coin, and not a penny more.  You can buy all that you want, if you can get your bank to order them for you.  Otherwise, it's usually 1 roll per customer.  Either way, the mint produced BILLIONS of these hoping they would circulate--they are worth $1 and only $1, and the mint would love for you to buy as many as you like for $1, too. 

I've seen the most outrageous statements made about these upside down edge lettered varieties that I read them with utter disbelief.  Here are some of the blatant, outright lies being circulated on eBay listings about this variety (NOT ERROR!):

"This is the biggest mistake the mint has never made!"

"These are the error coins everyone is talking about!"

"These are surely to increase in value!"

"There is no telling how many of these slipped through the mint!"

"Get these before the supply dries up!"

"These are ultra rare!  Contact me if you want more--I've got thousands of them!"

If you were the victim of this hype, I feel sorry for your loss, I truly do.  I hope this guide has educated you and helped to prevent further losses in the future.  For those that even considered buying these dollars and haven't yet--you're in luck.  I hope this guide saves you time, money, and stress.  There is nothing wrong with liking and collecting these coins.  It's a great way to introduce young people to the hobby, and to some history about our presidents.  But wherever there's genuine excitement over something new, there's always going to be opportunistic hucksters that try to take advantage.  Together we can make a difference and get the word out, and a put a stop to this embarassing nonsense that will only serve to tarnish the numismatic industry.