RE: Hidden Treasures: The 1970-s Lincoln Penny?
Hey @gjones15... i've been a coin collector "numismatist" for like... honestly since right around the year 1970.. I remember the initial "small-date/large-date" thing in that year.. and the lack of a circulating JFK half dollar. Oh yeah, and there was the run-up the IKE dollar kick-off in early '71. Ha! Just braggin.. 😎
To the matter at hand.. you have a very unusual piece there:
Would really be great to look at it with a cheap stereo microspcope while illuminated from the side with a bright flashlight.
IF that diagonal cross-member of the zero the date is lifted up at all.. i mean if the metal is pushed-up like it was scraped it could be some damage sustained after production. I'm noting that the lower-left part of the diagonal is well-lit as if the metal has been disturbed in some way... as if it took a blow from the lower-left dragging some of the metal to form that diagonal leading edge and plowing over half of the open center of the zero.
But it looks so perfect. For it to have been struck at the mint like that.. it would have required damage to the working die that struck it. Some debris or greased could have filled part of the die obfuscating the right half of the zero. But to explain the diagonal, in terms of damage to the die, the die would have had a perfectly placed hit from either a small piece of metal or a Die-Clash forming the indent.
Whatever caused this, it's just odd how the diagonal part is the exact thickness of the other lines in the date. Lemme know whatchoo think..
Exactly. The more I think about it, the more it seems it must have been done "intentionally.." because how else could it have happened?? It's almost as if the machine, while "stamping" or "imprinting" the zero, got lazy, and just "lifted up" too early, thereby sort of "pulling" the piece that should have gone where the missing portion is, but instead was pulled across the diameter of the zero. That being said--the length of the "odd line," I'll call the part of the zero that "shouldn't be there", seems too short to have been the "missing piece," so to speak. (if that makes any sense lol). But, I have looked very closely with a jewelers loop--it does NOT appeared to have been "scraped" or in any way "altered." It literally looks as though it was just "stamped" with a mini "D". Although that doesn't make sense. I think either my hypothesis, or yours, ie that something somehow obstructed the zero in the printer--but that being said (as you said) that still doesn't account for the "cross-member" line in the zero!! Very strange. I have emailed photos to a few "experts" as suggested by a person I found online.
All that being said: given what you do see or know about the coin--and anything you may have seen or experienced in the past--do you believe there is something monetarily "extra-valuable" about this coin?
I would say definitely yes.. IF the strange shape of the zero is NOT the result of an impact after it was minted.
Let me just add that I HAVE seen some amazing examples of "perfect dings" that distort a single letter or numeral. This may be one of those... but yes, see what the coin dealers tell ya.
Soo... just got an email back from an "expert"--he said he thinks this was caused by damage by a "counting machine..." My initial thought is... okay... but... how??? Though you just said you've seen some wild "dings..." I have yet to see a "ding" that could so cleanly disconnect, then re-connect a piece of metal with such precision... just doesn't make sense...
Also, if the coin machine damage is true, where is the "rest" of the zero?? In other words, if you were to take the entirety of the "damaged digit" as it stands, I promise--unless this is some kind of weird optical illusion--that it would not be possible to recreate a "normal" zero digit with what you had. So a "piece" is missing... (But it just might have fallen off, you say.. well .. why? ) . Just doens't seem right..
i have the same exact thing on my 1970-d
Also, something else I just noticed: look how much closer the "s" is to the date on the "error" coin--the "s" looks all weird and close, doesn't it? It's way closer to the tail than in the regular one as pictured at the very top of the post, which is from my collection as well... very strange. I think I will take it to a dealer here in town asap.
well those mint-marks were added to individual working dies back then... so you'll find "high" mint-marks and lower ones too. Not considered rare.
Interesting... I will have to take a class (i.e., youtube) on the minting process... would be helpful, I'm sure! Thank you very much for you assistance!!
no sweat! check out this link: http://deecken.com/coin.html
I won a national design contest in 1991 for the Olympic Commemorative Coin program the following year. Mine was the silver dollar obverse.. the infamous "Nolan Ryan" Dollar. So i was in on much of the model preparation.. and reduction. Was an amazing experience to say the least... as a life-long coin collector I couldn't have asked for a more satisfying stroke of luck!
Oh, man!! This is amazing! How cool! So you actually drew and designed everything on the coin, the fonts, size, placements, etc.? That's so wild!! And did you also get to actually visit the mint and watch how they struck the coins and everything? If so, which one? The webpage mentioned something about convening in Philly to work on the plaster model; did you work on that as well?
yes.. just the obverse though. I used a Adobe Freehand on a MacPlus to layout the text just the way i wanted it.. with the LIBERTY spread just a little less than a Walking Liberty Half. I broke the IN GOD WE TRUST in the best way - if you look at the variations on how that phrase has been stacked... it really looks best this way. Also the date was huge at the time.. was the biggest date on a U.S. coin until the '94 Soccer Dollar blew it away. The uncirculated version had the edge lettering. I used my own face as the model for "Nolan's" face... has my dimple visible.. ha! Got my initials on there along with Mint Sculptor Chester Y. Martin. I did actually carve, in the original plaster model, the glove, shoes, socks.. pitcher's rubber.. a few details. Was fun! Hung out with John Mercanti and lots of cool peeps!
They wouldn't let me into the actual coining area, but I was shown the Janvier Reduction machines that were slooooowly grinding out new Silver Eagle hubs right before my eyes! I was deep in the mint surrounded by original final 8" models of all the famous coins... hanging on the walls.. was amazing.
Wow. Amazing how strict they are in those places... So secretive!! That's very cool, though.. I'm pretty stoked--I need to weigh it, but I'm pretty sure I just found a 1982-d BRONZE penny!! I thought something felt different about the coin, and looke dit up and saw that (as I'm sure you know) 1982 was the transition year from copper to zinc, and some of each (except the 1982-d small date bronze) were printed. Dude on you tube said the 1982-d copper sold for tens of thousands of dollars; whereas the PCGS site says in red 67 it's only like $600! Any knowledge on this one? I might take some pics and do a post on it, too...
yeah def weigh that thing.
PCGS doesn't seem to have the 82-D Bronze SMALL DATE listed (yet). They DO have a generic 1982-D Brown and Red listed in the Bronze section... yet they also list 1982-D labeled "BRONZE" in Brown/Red additionally in the same section. Perhaps one is Small and one is Large Date but they failed to add that distinction?
As why the price would be only $600? It's prob referring to the Large Date. Need to research this a bit...
I used the font Adobe font Stone Sans for the text!
it gets confusing at first because of the hubbing process vs die-making process. There is the back-and-forth of male-to-female... raised image of one die presses in to another die creating a sunken image and vise-versa. Master Dies are male, thus Working Dies female. Hubs are Female as they are the "original" created uber-master die.
Understanding the process will help understand many of the bizarre forms of mint errors... and vice-versa!
Yes.. it is a bit confusing.. though that is helpful. I'm having a bit of trouble differentiating between "proof" coins, whic, for example, on ebay, these coins are called "red" but, they have more of a irridescent look to them--sometimes I come across pennies that share this feature, too: they have an irridescent, multi-colored look to the, and seem to be more detailed, for example, one coin, licolns face is VERY deep on one of these coins. They also have a different feel to them--kind of "waxy, almost." Also, the irridescent look of these special coins appears to be produced by the metal itself--not the "paint" or copper color which is plated on some other coins... does this make sense? Are these "proof" coins? Sorry for all the questions lol
Red just means "orginal minty-fresh copper" color... as opposed to a toned "brown" copper coin. Some toning is of course desirable particularly on silver coins. But PROOF coins are not just struck with better dies, they are struck on well-polished coin blanks (planchets). So they SHINE.
Lincoln's face used to be very deep.. especially in the mid-1960s.. culminating in the monster "chunky" lookin' 1968s. The 1969s, were amazingly flat and lifeless... check out the difference!
Oh yeah... always check your 1969-S cents for the uber-valuable Doubled Die variety.
I will perhaps do another post, or, are you on discord? It'd be great to be able to send an image or two of some coins if you'd be willing to look at them!
Will do. And yes.. that seems to make sense: the proofs being struck on well-polished planchets.. I don't know.. All I know is: I have some coins that look quite different than the others, and they look like what I've seen on ebay as "proof" coins--which are labeled "red," but, are not red in the sense that other pennies are "red". In other words, they have no "coppery" color--it is a more silverlooking "color--" like a plain metal, but very shiny and distinct. "Irridescent" even. But they are not "red/ copper COLORED" if that makes sense lol. Though neither are many of the "red" PROOF coins on ebay that I've seen.