DWLange

Though I haven't seen your coin, I would wager that it's appearance is probably the result of the poor quality control at the SF Mint during that period and circulation wear. The dies were used way too long, and this led to distortion of the peripheral design elements.

People accepted Breen's writings as the gospel for years primarily because so few others were doing any research at all. There was a need for factual information in the area of federal coinage. Eric Newman did excellent research, but it was in very specialized areas. The first person to perform uniformly fact based research into federal coins was R. W. Julian, who is still contributing to the present day.

Yes, I wrote that backwards. Never do anything in a hurry. Gotta run...

It's been a long day...

The zinc plating does not always adhere smoothly to the brass base on Zincolns. The result can be pimples or stripes that form during the compression of die striking.

It seems that your coin was struck on an incomplete planchet, which is more significant than the lines.

Motto of the Postal Service: Two Postal Tributes Chiseled in Stone --- "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

I wonder whether Covid-19 has caused any delays in the shipment of planchets from the Mint's vendors.

Yes, it is a Coronet Cent of the style made 1816-35.

You just had to get Roger fired up over one of his pet peeves...

I frequently buy coin sets simply to get the old boards, folders or albums in which they're stored, as I collect these. The coins are disposed of through various means, but any non-silver coins that are corroded or damaged even slightly just get spent. These include many Liberty Head and Buffalo Nickels, so they will turn up occasionally.

Still not a doubled-die. The quality of the photos isn't going to change that.

I don't see anything that would suggest a doubled-die, which would be a variety rather than an error.

The Treasury withheld gold coins after 1916 in response to changing economic conditions resulting from WWI. Most nations had suspended gold coinage by that time, the USA included. In the early 1920s gold coins once again became available, but they were bringing premiums from European buyers, and thus they ceased to circulate in the western states, the only place they had circulated since 1861. Americans wanting gold coins had no choice but to match the foreign premium. In many cases supplying gold coins to bank customers was also considered a courtesy that warranted a tip, kind of like when your bank today saves half dollars or other uncurrent coins for your next visit.

Gold coins were bringing slight premiums from WWI onward, though this was not for numismatic purposes; it was simply the only way to get them from banks and brokers. This trend accelerated after 1930. A lot of gold bugs became "numismatists" after 1934, because it provided a means of continuing to hold gold coins. Louis Eliasberg started this way, but then he got hooked. The real numismatic market in 20th Century gold coins developed in the early 1940s and exploded as WW2 was ending.

Roger, You stated that there were no "arbitrary pronouncements" before certified grading, but that's exactly what Walter Been was doing with his fuchsia-scripted authentication letters. These were treated as gospel in the hobby for many years, though few have held up under modern scrutiny of their subject coins.

That's a lamination error.

The Whitman Bookshelf albums are covered in Volume Three of my book Coin Collecting Albums---A Complete History and Catalog. The Rayway holders (Wayte Raymond, Inc.) are detailed in Volume One. The Harris Honor-Bilt line will be addressed in a future volume. If anyone is interested in such things, my books may be found here: http://coincollectingboards.com

This is the most extreme example known for Jeffersons:

That's a lot of useful information in a very compact format. The most interesting item to me is the last, in which it's revealed that the decline in demand (and thus minting) of five-cent pieces was due to the issue of so many dimes during the Specie Redemption years of 1875-78. Nickels were not coined for circulation at all during 1877-78, and only tokens numbers were produced 1879-81. It wasn't until 1882 that demand picked up for them and large coining resumed. It's also notable that mention was made of a very recent increase in the demand for cents. Clearly, there was very little in 1877, when fewer than a million were coined for circulation, but mintages increased starting 1878, the time of this article. Thanks, Roger.

These images are from my book Coin Collecting Albums: Volume One, which covers the products of Martin L. Beistle, Wayte Raymond and M. Meghrig & Sons. This album remained in production until the early 1960s. That album was quickly cloned by Meghrig, and it's the latter that you have.

Do you have a question?

Sometimes the lasering is slightly out of sync with the die, leaving a sliver of relief unfrosted and a sliver of frosting on the field at the other side of the relief device. NGC sometimes get these coins mistakenly submitted as doubled-dies.

Most examples of "rust" are actually the product of spalling on the die.

Doubled-dies on Shield Nickels are too esoteric to be priced in the NGC guide. Normally, they do carry a premium among series or error coin specialists, but a hole drilled in the coin will severely impair its value. Your coin would be Details graded with the notation "Holed."