A local coin collector who discovered a minting error in commemorative Hawaii quarters will offer some of the pieces for sale at this week’s All-Collectors Show at the Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall.

The Hawaii quarters issued in November 2008, the last in the U.S. Mint’s 50 State Quarters Program, feature King Kamehameha I with his right arm extended toward the eight major Hawaiian Islands. It wasn’t too long afterward that a small number of coins were discovered to have what appear to be two extra islands south of Oahu and Molokai, likely the result of chips in the die used in the minting process.

Waialae Iki coin collector Joe Au-Franz said he bought several of the elusive "extra islands" quarters from other collectors and began going through his pocket change and the coin jars at work to find a few more. He now owns 10 of them. Then in February one of his co-workers at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Chris Moe, noticed some funny markings on a Hawaii quarter and passed it to Au-Franz.

Several ridges on the "tails" side of the coin make it appear as if large waves are headed toward the eastern coast of Hawaii island. The marks are from a partial imprint of George Washington’s hair and jaw line that appears on the "heads" side of the coin, where remnants of Kamehameha’s cloak are visible on the president’s neck and braid.

Those who have examined the so-called "tsunami" error quarters say the defects were caused by an "obverse reverse die clash," which happens when the coin dies (the stamping tools) hit each other in the coining press without a metal blank between them, transferring parts of the design to the other die.

The U.S. Mint in Philadelphia produced 254 million 2008 "P" Hawaii statehood quarters. Mint spokesman Mike White said he was not aware of the error.

Since the Star-Advertiser reported Moe and Au-Franz’s find in March, both the "extra islands" and "tsunami" quarters have been certified as error coins by the American Numismatic Association Certification Service, the nation’s oldest coin-grading company.

Au-Franz, a member of the Hono­lulu Coin Club who started his hobby at age 13, said he owns 10 "extra islands" and 151 "tsunami" quarters, and is aware of only a scarce few others.

"As coin populations go, those are ultrarare numbers," he said.

But rare doesn’t necessary translate into valuable. In one of the vagaries of the collecting world, the existence of so few of the Hawaii error quarters might actually dampen buyer interest, according to Mike Ellis, vice president of the Combined Organizations of Numismatic Error Collectors of America and a member of the American Numismatic Association’s board of governors.

"Because of the numbers available, you would think they would be worth hundreds or thousands of dollars for one, but there aren’t enough to go around for people to add to their collection, so they just don’t buy them," said Ellis, who lives in Camila, Ga. "You would think they are worth a whole lot more, but sometimes they make it there and sometimes they don’t.

"When you have a large number of them, you’re able to market them, but when there’s a small number there’s not enough to market, and sometimes people are attracted by the flash of marketing rather than the facts."

"Tsunami" quarters were being offered for sale by Au-Franz and other collectors on eBay last week for $99 to $150 each.

Because he has so few of them, Au-Franz said he won’t be selling any of his "extra islands" coins at the All-Collectors Show, but will be offering the "tsunami" quarters.

He acknowledges that ultimately, the coins are worth only what people are willing to pay for them.

"As far as how rare and how exciting the coins are, we’re just going to have to see what the public will say."

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The Honolulu Coin Club meets at 7:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at the Susannah Wesley Community Center, 1117 Kaili St.