2019 West Point Penny Error? 1 1

[Erin33]

please someone tell me that little dent in the circle is a error.. Would something like this give this Penny a worse grade? Or no?

Edited December 8, 2023 by Erin33

[Sandon]

    The small depression is likely a "strikethrough" of a small piece of foreign matter on the die or planchet.  It is a very minor and frequently seen anomaly and does not make the coin worth a premium, especially when it is this small.

[Erin33]

On 12/7/2023 at 11:43 PM, Sandon said:

    The small depression is likely a "strikethrough" of a small piece of foreign matter on the die or planchet.  It is a very minor and frequently seen anomaly and does not make the coin worth a premium, especially when it is this small.

if I sent this in to get graded would that spot make a difference? I am not worried about a error…I want a high grade.

Edited December 8, 2023 by Erin33

[Sandon]

   This 2019-W cent isn't worth the cost of third-party grading with or without the strikethrough!  Even in MS 69 RD it would only have a retail value per the NGC Price Guide of $40. 

[Lem E]

On 12/8/2023 at 12:23 AM, Erin33 said:

if I sent this in to get graded would that spot make a difference? I am not worried about a error…I want a high grade.

I would think it would only hurt the grade. Most collectors would find this a distraction and I would imagine graders would too and the grade would take a hit. 

[Mike Meenderink]

If you sent that coin in to be graded the coin would come back AU Details Scratched and be worth 1c. You will have wasted your money on the grading. If you are not prepared or knowledgeable enough to recognize a coin that is damaged you have no place submitting coins for grading. Unless of course you don't care about money and just like to waste it.

On 12/7/2023 at 10:23 PM, Erin33 said:

if I sent this in to get graded would that spot make a difference? I am not worried about a error…I want a high grade.

 

[powermad5000]

As someone who has submitted a number of these cents (as well as a number of error cents and error coins in general), I am not sure what grade you are expecting this cent to get. Your photos are way too washed out with light to even attempt to give a fair assessment of what it could possibly grade. I have submitted a number of Lincoln Shield cents since the design change that have had no visible marks whatsoever and the best any of them have graded was MS 66 RD. I am going to tell you NGC is very tough on giving out high grades on these new moderns. One little bubble in the plating and the grade goes substantially down on these.

That said, it does appear this coin has a minor strikethrough. I use the word minor, because I know hands down the coin would return straight graded with a note in the graders notes of "too minor". I have several strikethroughs on modern pieces, and it seems unless it affects about 5% or more of the area of the side of the coin the strikethrough is on, it will be viewed as too minor.

When it comes to the graders giving a numeric grade to an error coin, I believe this can be found somewhere in the NGC pages here regarding errors, but I know for sure having submitted 20+ error coins and having them come back, when it comes to grading an error, the $18 fee to have expert eyes look at the error, the error itself is NOT taken into consideration when the coin receives its numerical grade. The grader looks at the REST of the coin and the grade is issued based upon the condition of the rest of the coin, not the error itself. To put it a different way, the error is not the grade, but the rest of the coin not affected by the error is used to determine the grade of the coin and then the normal grading rules apply. Even an error coin can also be cleaned, whizzed, environmentally damaged, etc.

I have a Lincoln Memorial cent broadstruck with a partial brockage. Half the coin is a mess, but it still graded as MS 66 RD based on the unaffected part of the coin. 

I could tell you even with better photos of your coin, it most likely will grade MS 66 RD at the highest, and the plastic slab will be worth more than the coin inside it so I would not submit this coin.