1909 vdb wheat with missing L in liberty

[MY13EAGLES-migration]

Hello, is my coin rare or are there many of them out there

I do not know how to post a pic on this site.

 

It is a 1909 vdb penny with no mint mark but the L is missing on the coin.

[Kurtdog]

Click Reply, then go down to File Manager and click that, then click Choose File, then find the pic in your computer and add it to your reply. You might have to be registered here for a period to upload pics, I don't know.

 

If it's what I think it is, struck-through grease, no book premium, but an error-collector could give you a little extra for it.

 

[Coindude]

It's most likely a coin made from a grease filed die. If that's the case there would be no premium. We would still love to see a picture though.

[cpm9ball]

It sounds like a GFD to me, too!

 

It takes a lot of lubrication to keep the machinery running at the Mint. These lubricants can transfer to the planchets and then to the dies when struck. The grease can combine with dust particles in the recesses of a die and become compacted with every successive strike. Eventually, that feature of the design can disappear altogether on the coin.

 

Searching Mint bags of same date/mm coins can be even greater fun whenever you find one or more of these in the bag. The next thing you hope to find is a "dropped element". Eventually, the compacted debris with steel-like hardness will fall out of the die, and if it lands on a planchet, it can be impressed into the surface of the coin. Sometimes this debris will fall away from the coin leaving just its impression. Other times, it will remain embedded in the coin. This would be called a "retained dropped element".

 

Welcome to the world of Error Coins!

 

Chris

[Keigwin]

Not unusual. As others have said grease combined with dust, metal flakes, etc. gets very compressed and dense, and can fill a cavity, obscuring the device.

 

Here's a non-VDB with a nearly obliterated L.

Lance.

 

[MY13EAGLES-migration]

Thank you, To all who responded every one has educated me highly on the subject.