The Faceless Monroe Presidential Dollar

by Susan Headley

Blank Monroe Dollar has Edge Lettering

A "Faceless" Monroe Presidential Dollar has been found by coin collector Garrett Reich of Michigan. This extremely rare error type, of which only one previous specimen has ever been confirmed, is a Presidential Dollar that didn't get struck by the coin dies, leaving it without any obverse or reverse designs. Reich's coin is a blank planchet with a very important difference from nearly other blank Presidential Dollar coins: it has Presidential Dollar edge lettering on it! Garrett found the coin in a bank box of 1,000 coins wrapped up into 40 rolls on February 13, 2008, the day before the coins officially went on sale at most banks. (Some banks are known to distribute the coins ahead of the official release date.)
Monroe Faceless Dollar is NGC CertifiedReich's Faceless Monroe Dollar specimen has been certified by NGC as genuine, with the label reading "2008P (James Monroe) $1 / Edge Lettered Planchet / Mint Error" along with the verification number on the insert.
According to Reich's wife, Erika, the grading service messed up the label the first time around, apparently not recognizing that the particular president was a certain, known fact in this case. Originally, the label merely indicated that it was a blank Presidential Dollar planchet with edge lettering, which would have meant that it could have come from any president in 2008. Fortunately for the Reichs, they had leading variety coin expert Ken Potter on their side, who contacted NGC and got the proper designation put on the label. The coin had to be a Monroe Dollar because no other Presidential Dollars had been issued yet in 2008, and the edge lettering, although weak, clearly indicates the year 2008. Potter's intervention makes the Reich Specimen quite a bit more valuable than it would be otherwise; any other 2008-dated faceless Presidential Dollars which are found once the Fed releases the next Dollar (the John Quincy Adams, which will leave the Fed around May 2) can only get a generic label insert.
Major Monroe Dollar ErrorsReich found his amazing error coin while searching for another major Monroe error, the Monroe Dollars which were struck on planchets meant for State Quarters! An undisclosed number of Dollars struck on Quarter planchets were found by the contractor who wraps the coins for the U.S. Mint, and although the Mint acknowledged that this stupendous error had occurred, it also claims that it recovered them all. As of press time, no such specimens have come to light outside the Mint's control. There is believed to be another "faceless" Monroe Dollar in the certification pipeline, one found in New Jersey sometime later than Reich's find. If this coin is confirmed, it brings the total number of authenticated faceless dollars to 3, with the total number of rumored, faked, debunked, and spurious faceless dollars in the dozens. Readers are cautioned that they should never buy a major error unless it is certified by a leading grading service.
The Second Known Faceless DollarThe Faceless Monroe Dollar was one of numerous more minor errors that Reich found during his searching. The most interesting of the other errors he found included partial edge lettered coins, coins with weak edge lettering, and coins that had edge lettering spacing errors. Reich searched through at least 20,000 Monroe Dollars before finding his faceless specimen, and despite searching through a total of more than 40,000 Monroe Dollars so far, he hasn't found any others like it. His find could be worth anywhere from $15,000 to as much as $50,000 or more, depending on how many others are found. The first Faceless Dollar, found by the Smith family in Colorado, never came to market, so the Reich Specimen will be the first test of how deeply people are willing to dig into their pockets to own one of these.
How to Find Your Own Faceless DollarOne of the hallmarks of Reich's searching technique is sheer persistence. He searches tens of thousands of coins per month, always on the lookout for that which is different or odd. He was in on the Adams Doubled Edge Lettering bonanza, finding enough specimens that he was selling them to local coin dealers in batches. He has found numerous other major errors through the years. Like most avid coin roll searchers, the key to Reich's success is searching a lot of coins on a consistent basis. He has even hit the silver bonanza, once finding a whole batch of boxes of Half Dollars at a local bank that were loaded with silver halves! If you want to find your own valuable coins in circulation, get some boxes of circulating coins from your local bank, heave them all home, roll up your sleeves, and start searching!