Quote:
Originally Posted by ALR-bishop
But as far as I know there is no recognized hobby definition of a variation, and so from my standpoint everyone is entitled to their own view.
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For what it's worth, to me a variant or variation comes down to one thing: Repetition. If it only occurs once, or each occurrence is unique in its own way (like a missing dye layer or mis-registration or a miscut) then it is an error. But if the occurrence is reproducible, like the black star or the yellow tiger, then it is a variant or variation. Same goes for transitions as well.
I used to collect coins, and in the Lincoln series there was a similarly controversial issue: The 1922 Plain cent. In that year only the Denver mint issued cents, and so they were dated 1922-D. But a few coins turned up with the D missing. Turned out the dies made to create the coins were overused to make up for the lack of production from the other two mints, and the D was worn away, as proven by coins that also emerged with partial Ds. Then to further muddy the waters, the no-D cents had two reverses, one that was very weak and worn and one that was crisp and brand new, evidence that late in the run a worker swapped out the old reverse die for a fresh one, but did not bother for the Obverse. So you wind up with four distinct variations for the 1922-D.
And so while even though this cent was created in error (as was the black star and the yellow tiger) it was nevertheless reproducible, and with a definite set of characteristics that they all shared. The prices reflected the desirability of the stages . The partial Ds go for hardly any more than a normal example, because they are transitional. The No-D weak reverse, slightly more, but again, it is seen as a transition. But the final stage, with no D and the strong reverse, is highly prized as a variation in the set, because it was now distinct.
So what we might see shake out with the Yellow tiger are similar prices being fetched for transitional copies that have partial red/orange on the tiger, and then the final ones that are absent any yellow.