Interview with Famed Error Coin Expert, Fred Weinberg

On behalf of our “Minds of Numismatists” interview series, I’d like to present our first interview!


Fred Weinberg is the President of Fred Weinberg & Co. (http://www.fredweinberg.com/) Mr. Weinberg is one of the most prolific error coin experts in the world has been featured on CNN, Discovery Channel and NPR Radio, as well as many T.V news programs throughout the U.S. He is the co-author of “The Error Coin Encyclopedia,” as well as a contributor to the “Red Book” and many other numismatic books and articles. A collector since age 12, Mr. Weinberg has over 38 years of professional experience in the industry and is the authenticator for Major Mint Error Coins for P.C.G.S.



Numismatic Hub: Let’s start with a simple question, what is your favorite coin that you currently own and why?

Fred Weinberg: As a dealer, it’s difficult to pick one favorite coin in your inventory – but, since you asked, I’d have to say it’s a coin I sold in 1974, and have been waiting for it to appear on the market, which it finally did in 2010. In 1974, while working for a large numismatic company in Beverly Hills, California, I purchased and sold the Dr. Conway Bolt Collection of Error Coins, containing over 2,000 pieces of major Mint error coins. One of my favorites was an 1888 Liberty Nickel with an actual Brass Coil Struck into the Reverse of the coin. The coil was removable, and it had the details from the Liberty Nickel reverse die, where it came in contact.

I advertised the coin in Coin World, sold it to a collector in Connecticut, who had never purchased an error coin before or after that piece. It sold for $600 in 1974, a pretty healthy price for any mint error coin at that time.

I’ve always thought about that coin, wondering where it was – it never surfaced on the market, never was submitted to any grading service – it just ‘dropped off the face of the earth”, or so it seemed.

At the Boston ANA this past summer, Bill Fivaz happened to mention that he had seen the coin “that you always talk about” at one of the bourse tables. It was at a Connecticut dealers table, the coin had simply walked into their shop a few weeks before the ANA. The coin sat in their showcase for three full days, with some error collectors noting it, others pricing it and passing on it.

I purchased it immediately at the full asking price, and it’s now in my office, after me thinking about the piece for over 36 years! It’s odd that the owner never tried to contact me, put it in an auction, or in any way let someone (besides the retail coin shop) know he had it.



NH: You have undoubtedly viewed the rarest error coins ever produced, which one was your favorite?

FW: That’s another tough question to answer, but when I’m asked that on other occasions, I have to reply the 1851 $20 Liberty Struck on a Large Cent Planchet that I purchased directly from Sol Kaplan of Cincinnati for $1,000 in 1973. I sold the coin, bought it back, sold it again, and it now resides in a major collection (probably the best!) of Off-Metal Errors, valued at over $200,000.


NH: Your website influenced me to start collecting error coins and I’m sure I’m not the only one, how did you get involved in the error coin field?

FW: I had a paper route when I was 11-13 years old, and I would go through the coins that home owners paid me with each month. I noticed some coins had ‘things wrong’ with them, and combined with reading each week the Collectors Clearinghouse page in Coin World, it quickly motivated me to find out more about them, study them, and learn the Minting Process.


NH: You are one of the very few civilians who have been inside the West Point Mint, can describe your experience at all?

FW: I was the only full-time dealer that got to examine all of the Carson City Dollar errors that were sold by the GSA in 1973/74. At that time, it was the West Point Depository, and all of the ‘error’ or ‘strange’ CC dollars that were pulled aside, before they were put in the GSA plastic cases. I, along with Arnie Margolis of Error Trends Coin Magazine, got an invitation from the GSA to go to West Point to examine them so that they could be promoted, to help sales of the CC dollars to the public – which were going slow, because they were priced a bit over the current retail market value for them, and there was little incentive at the beginning of the program for the public to buy them. It was a great experience, and one of the highlights of my career.

My last trip to the West Point Mint was in 2006, where we took a ‘floor tour’ of all of the facilities at the WPM, and actually got to strike a Proof Silver Eagle myself – putting the planchet into the press, pressing the button to strike it, and then removing it carefully with a pair of tongs!


NH: What has been your greatest moment in your numismatic career?

FW: I can’t pick a moment per se, but not counting buying and selling a specific coin, I’d say some of the things I’ve done over 40 years as a full-time coin dealer that rank as great things include being able to go to Europe from 1974 to 1998 buying large quantities of U.S. gold from major banks and numismatic departments there. Also, just releasing a book I co-authored, “100 Greatest U.S. Error Coins”, published by Whitman Publishing, was a career highlight, a milestone in the evolution of the error coin hobby.

NH: Where do you see the numismatic industry going in the future?

FW: No one knows the future; our current industry is a mixture of old-time knowledge and experience, coupled with high technology; the Internet, On-Line Auction Bidding, EBay, I phone apps for coins, etc. I can tell you that as one of the world’s oldest hobbies, it will always exist, changing with the times, expanding with all the new knowledge that is uncovered or discovered, and that as human beings, we will always want to collect things – and Legal Tender pieces of hard metal will always be popular !


NH: You are arguably the leader in the error coin field, how did you get to where you are today?

FW: I’ve been extremely lucky to grow and contribute to the error coin field as it grew itself over the past decades. I’ve followed my heart, in that I chose to do what I wanted to do (get into the coin business when it wasn’t anywhere near as encompassing as it is today). I’ve always tried hard to be honest, give the right advice or observations about something, and love what I do every single day. I try to give back when I can in various ways, as I strongly feel the numismatic industry has been very good to me in my lifetime.


NH: Do you have any advice for young numismatists looking to start collecting error coins?

FW: Yes, the first and most important thing to do is to study and understand the Minting Process. If you understand how a coin was minted, in detail, it will help you in knowing if that coin you have is a genuine Mint error, or a damaged or altered piece. It’s been said before, but it’s very true in our hobby; Knowledge is Power.