Emilio T. writes: Hello. I am from the Philippines and in 1983 our central bank came out with the 50c Phil. Eagle coin series with the 1-letter error in the spelling of the scientific name of the Philippine Eagle. It minted a “B” instead of the “P”. After it was discovered by a biologist it was quickly replaced with the correct one. I was able to keep around 20 pieces in still relatively UNC condition. Are those coins rare? I want to know their relative market value because I have been trading them with other foreign collectors and they seem to give me whatever I want (eg. 1942 20c French Indo-china coin, 1904 French 1 Franc, etc.) without questions. Is it a fair trade based on value? Thank you very much.
The 1983 “PITHECOBHAGA” error is interesting but not technically worth any more than the corrected issue. Lots of these coins were saved because of the publicity. Almost 28 million were minted including both spellings. The actual value of the coin depends on the availability of the issue in one’s locality. It seems that you have discovered that some collectors have a hard time finding a specific issue and may be willing to trade more valuable pieces for it. In the end the game is to make trades that satisfy both parties needs. Good luck!
