RWB

The original plan was to use one design for all gold denominations and a separate one for the cent. All of this is explained and illustrated in RAC 1905-1908. TR liked the cent obverse and wanted it tested on the DE - one pattern piece known. SG convinced him to keep the striding Liberty figure on the DE and use the Cent obv, with a rather silly Native American chief's headress added, on the Eagle as ordered by TR. (TR's stint as a cattle rancher in the Dakotas might have produced a fetish for native headdresses.) Both the striding and portrait Liberty were adapted from the SG's Sherman Memorial in NYC - just with individual names/titles. At beginning of 1908 the adopted DE design was to be used for HE and QE coins. (Edge lettering was not really a problem on these smaller coins. The Philadelphia Mint was doing that on Mexican 10-peso gold pieces.)

Hmmmm...something's gotten confused. Usual procedure was to anneal planchets before striking. Every mint uses something similar today, or buys planchets pre-softened. MCMVII DE were annealed between blows to bring out the detail as quickly as possible. US Mints once had a "Whitening room" for silver and a "Cleaning room" for copper and nickel. The final step was a quick dip in weak sulfuric or nitric acid to brighten the surface just before striking. For silver coins, this resulted in a surface on newly struck coins that was higher in silver than in the bulk alloy. This made the coins look "white" rather than the slightly yellow color of 0.900 silver coin alloy. Clad coin surface alloy is ugly regardless of what is done to it.

In reality, VKurtB is incorrect. I know many astute collectors who follow my overall description. The difference between them and run-of-the-mill "VKurtB-types" is that these folks don't care about money, profit, greed (at least not in their hobbies), or the circular hype infesting coin collecting. Their holdings include accurate coin and medal grades combined with their personal preferences for other, subjective, factors.

Each time a modern imitation coin, proof, or other novelty is removed from its original packaging, you expose its surface to contamination. The effects are cumulative each time a holder is opened, and increase as unprotected time increases. The effects might not become visible for a year or more. You can be smart, and leave it in the original plastic capsule, or take your chances after spending $50.

Consistent, reliable coin grading is not difficult. (Although nearly everyone else posting message will disagree.) A "grade" is simply a combination of the amount of wear/abrasion on the coin, plus external damage such as bumps, scrapes, scratches and so forth. Both these can be determined using standards accepted long ago, or with degraded versions shown in the ANA Grading guide. (With the exception of Uncirculated coins, where these are not well defined.) It gets complicated, confusing and largely worthless, when subjective factors such as luster, strike, tarnish, "look" and other uncontrollable conditions get layered on top of, or in between largely objective criteria. Today's collectors and dealers have largely handed off grading to independent for-profit companies owned by buy-out companies, and thereby given up meaningful control over quality. It is all about the money - nothing else.

The density is missing, but other data in the Heritage catalog looks OK. (Why does PCGS not put ALL of the data on the page with a coin they certified as an off-metal strike?)

Yes, I should have been clearer. A die chip in the center of the mintmark would cause the "O" to be partially or completely filled on the coin.

This is what I was asking for information about.

You will get a deeper response if you post this on VAMworld.com message board.

I was in the left-hand lane when I passed....Had to get to the rest stop to get more smokes!

The die was over-polished during normal repair, that acc9unts for the floating leaves. The mintmark is damaged in the center so the "O" looks filled. (In future, please post photos not these awful screen grabs.)

Well, that is cheaper than Ozempic. How much did the dime lose? Were there side effects? (or front, back or top effects....can you add beans and get sound effects?) Sorry -- Last slept Sat afternoon. Jet lag can get nasty.

Mine flipped over to a future address....strange. It also changed my name to "Rod Serling."

Proportion of the population is the critical value. The second is our current definition of "collector." Third is the product mix availability.

It would be nice to see the final product, but I insist on paying for it. The draft materials I've read were not convincing --- But, that does not diminish the concepts of you or others. My views are built on original documents and their descriptions.

Why someday moderns will be hot: Global warming....

Too many VAMs and not enough cat lives. Nice cleaned EF with edge bump.

Try listening to what members are telling you. They are trying to help you "learn sumn." Please show the sources of your information and XRF test results, if available.

Not sure what you are reacting so negatively to. The cent is simply worn from years of circulation. Nothing more. Some corrections: Striking pressure for Lincoln cents of about 1915 was 40 tons (approx 90 per sq inch). Here's a table from the Engraving Dept. Cents were struck at the rate of 175 per minute on a single press or 250 per minute on a dual press. Toggle presses in use in 1915 had an electric interlock (invented at the Philadelphia Mint in 1910 by Leslie Lambert) that shut off the press within 5 strokes of there was a misfeed.

Please show the sources of your information and XRF test results, if available.

Your coin is valuable in the sense you describe as a pointer to people and a time very different from our own. Given the amount of wear, it might have been handled by millions of Americans and new immigrants looking for personal freedom and opportunity.

Your coin has developed hypopigmentation due to a bad case of "die surface eczema." This can be cured with our special all natural composition of natural ingredients from all natural sources including natural vitamin D, natural donkey sweat, and other healthy natural ingredients mixed in a gentle emulsion of bath tub scum and all natural roadkill extract. A large, family-size bottle is only $2,995 for a one-month supply. We guarantee your dime will be cured in 6-months or your money cheerfully refunded -- (if you can find us...)

Really nice "cud." An excellent find. Coingratulations!

The coin is more MS-61 or 62. Definitely not MS-63 based on the photos and Liberty;s scruffy facial hair. As Sandon noted, you can spend $80 and a get a much nicer 1921 or a more interesting coin.

Robert - You posted a question because you wanted knowledgeable and truthful answers regarding the nickel in your photos, and specifically its value. Unless you have suddenly become expert in numismatic errors, your best course is to pay attention to the comments from members. Also, stop watching U-tube videos on "error coins." They are nearly all lies and are there just to get money for exposing viewers to ads -- it's called "click bait." A few facts: 1) The shank on a dime die will not fit in a press that is striking nickels. 2) A struck nickel will not fit in the feeding mechanism of a dime press. Either of these make your idea impossible. 3) Another item: If a nickel were struck with dime dies all the lettering on both coins would read normally. Your first photo shows the dime image is reversed.