Coinbuf

Welcome to the forum, these coins are graded by PCGS. If you just added them to your inventory today or perhaps even yesterday it can take two or three days for the NGC registry staff to verify the coins before they can be added to your sets. Check your competitive coins inventory for pending adds as seen below. If you do not have any pending then the system will allow you to check the recently approved coins, as seen below. Once the coins are displayed in the recently approved adds group you can then add to sets by clicking on the add to sets plus sign, as seen below. Hope that helps.

Roger @RWB knows more about the die usage at the mint than I do, however, I seem to recall reading and seeing several instances where circulating coinage had all the proper markers of proof coinage and dies for some years/mints. Again, not an expert but I think this was done when there was a shortage of dies or as a cost savings measure.

A very interesting find, your coin does not appear to be a proof, but does have the characteristics of that die. As was already suggested I would contact Mr. Wexler and see if he can provide any insight. While I have no data to support such a claim, I would not be surprised if the mint used this die to strike circulation coinage once it had outlived its usefulness for proof coinage production.

There already is a set for the entire run of US cent production, I have no idea who would have any "pennies" sets. Here is a link to the set in the NGC registry. Link

Welcome to the forum Gary, the bright pink, yet dull, color that can be seen in your photo showing the edge is a dead giveaway that the coin has been dipped or harshly cleaned. The different mints sourced the raw metals, and/or planchets from different sources so there is a wide gamete of colors that the copper coins produced from each mint and even from year to year. As an aside, it is not a good idea to hold collectable coins with your fingers touching the face, only hold by the edge. It is not a big deal in this case as the coin has already been damaged, but the oils from our skin can etch the surfaces of coins and copper is especially reactive.

What you should do depends on what you want to do with this coin. If you plan to keep it then all you need to do is place it in a safe container and label it as a die gouge. If your plan is to sell then I would suggest that you contact one of the well known error dealers and ask their advice on if they think this is a real mint error. They should be able to give you more information on if one of the major TPG's (third party grading companies like NGC) will grade and slab as a mint error and ballpark value estimate of what something like this might be worth as is or slabbed. There are a few but the only one I know of right off is Sullivan Numismatics, here is a link to that website. Link

Ok lets start at the beginning, first you have a PCGS generation 3 slab not a generation 2.2 slab. While these two generations look similar please note that in the lower right (as viewed) corner of your slab you will see the PCGS initials in the plastic of the slab; a generation 2.2 does not have that. Second, the color of the ring around the coin is not from the background or any photo issues. It is very common for the soft plastic ring around the coin in this generation of holder to change color, I have seen the rings in shades of blue, green, yellow, and orange with yellow and green the most common. It is also common to see the label with the grade and coin information on it to change color as well, usually seen in shades of green and yellow. The information on the PCGS site that you circled in your second photo has nothing to do with plastic ring around the coin, that verbiage is referring to the label at the top of the slab where the grade and coin information is typed and displayed. The gen 3 holder was the third version of the OGH (old green holder) the first version (gen 2.1) had a label that was perforated on the edges from the dot matrix printing machine that was used, this was discontinued with the gen 2.2 and the label no longer had the perforated edge. Here is a photo of one of my gen 3 holders, note that in my holder the plastic ring is a darker green than yours, you can also see the color variation of the label between the two.

It is worth exactly one cent, that is not die doubling, just the worthless split plate doubling which is one of the three common and worthless forms of strike doubling.

Sorry to hear about your bad news, those homeowner repairs can be expensive. Last year I had to replace one of the A/C units for my house, I sure hope the other can last another year or two. I hope that you will be able to come back stronger than ever in time.

Something to keep in mind, it is not all that uncommon for the clading to cover some or all of the edge of a coin giving it the appearance of a silver coin. I have found several myself and have seen many like the one in the op shown/posted over the years.

Actually, washies are one of the hardest "modern" coins for me to grade the same as the TPG's. I am always off, but my guess is MS65.

PF65 no cam is my first thought.

That is not the designer's initials, just some damage or as I said someone in the past attempted to scratch his or her own initials into the coin. Copper is a soft metal and easily damaged while in circulation.

I have used the photo that @Hoghead515posted above, the area I have circled at the base of the bust near the rim is where the VDB is located on every Lincoln cent from 1916 onwards. You have not provided a clear photo of the area you are talking about, however, as you continue to refer to the chest area I am assuming that your coin has some damage or perhaps someone in the past attempted to scratch their initials into the coin. Again your coin is not uncirculated.

That is most unfortunate indeed.

@AmerigoC I have collected Lincoln cents for 40 years, I have several Lincoln cent registry sets including two number 1 sets. The 1955 Lincoln cent you have posted is without question a circulated coin, everyone thinks their bampa is perfect and always right, that is simply untrue. I am not saying this to disparage your grandfather, just stating the truth.

A simple die chip, not important.

Too out to focus to be able to see if there are any hairlines on the coin that would suggest a cleaning, I would bet that it has been dipped at some time in the past to be that blast white.

Just very dramatic strike doubling, not a doubled die. You could also have some split plate doubling there as well, but the photos are too over lit and washed out for me to say for sure. But that too is just another worthless form of mechanical doubling.

Yep classic strike doubling.

The guardhouse boxes that bill mentioned are nice, I have a couple myself. Bill's link is only to the main site, this link will take you directly to the storage boxes. Coin tube storage boxes Rember to put a descant packet into each box for better, safer storage.

Agreed, they lost my business years ago.