1968 Lincoln Cent - Error Identification Help 1 1

[pharma]

I need some help identifying the name of the "Liberty" error on a 1968 Lincoln cent and the possible cause.  

I've attached photos of the error.  Let me know if you need additional photos.

Thanks for your help.

Edited June 7 by pharma
Clarify error.

[J P M]

It looks like it was an ender of a coin rolling machine. Or just a good hit. So, it is post mint damage 

Edited June 7 by J P M

[RWB]

Damage. No value.

[Greenstang]

Damage is not an error. What you have is damage, there is no way that would happen when the coin was struck.

[Coinbuf]

Just in case it wasn't clear, just damage.  

[Sandon]

   A significant mint error would be visible to the unaided eye and wouldn't require the magnification you're using to be observed. Die varieties, such as doubled dies and repunched mintmarks, should require no more than 5-7x magnification to be observed.

   Contrary to what you may have seen on the internet, it is extremely unusual to find any significant mint error coin in your change, as most that escaped mint inspection are intercepted by bank and counting house personnel and sold to coin dealers. If you examine the inventories of coin dealers who offer errors, such as Sullivan Numismatics (sullivannumismatics.com), you will observe that nearly all of the error coins offered are in uncirculated grades. Since 2002, procedures used at the mint have allowed very few significant error coins to escape. In my 53 years as a collector, I know only one collector who received a significant error coin in change, a cent that had been overstruck by nickel dies.

   Errors and die varieties are advanced topics in numismatics, and you should have a good grounding in more basic subjects, such as the history and types of U.S. coinage, grading, and how coins are made, before getting into these topics.  The following articles provide some basic information about mint errors:

Learn Grading: What Is a Mint Error? — Part 1 | NGC (ngccoin.com)

Learn Grading: What Is a Mint Error? — Part 2 | NGC (ngccoin.com)

Learn Grading: What Is a Mint Error? — Part 3 | NGC (ngccoin.com)

Learn Grading: What Is a Mint Error? — Part 4 | NGC (ngccoin.com)

Variety vs. Mint Error | NGC (ngccoin.com)

   The site error-ref.com provides a comprehensive listing and explanation, including photos, of error types.

[powermad5000]

I would like to add what I am seeing in the case of this cent. I see the obverse being struck by a very slightly misaligned die which is showing the effect of two rims on the left side of the obverse. This in and of itself however is not very significant and also cannot be called an error because the standards for misaligned die errors is that part of the details or date has to be missing due to the misalignment being significant enough to affect the coin's details. This very slight misalignment however was the reason the L in LIBERTY was not able to strike up very well and is literally sitting on the curved part of the coin next to the rim. Part of the L is also affected by the following which happened to the I in LIBERTY. In the case of the L, it merely flattened it some and made it look wider than normal.

The I in LIBERTY from what I can tell took a pretty big hit which displaced some of the metal of the I and piled it next to the struck letter giving it this very wide appearance. The metal of these cents is soft enough that big hits on lettering or on the date can physically shift the metal causing some anomalies that can confuse those not well versed in mint errors. Nothing here is a mint error.