1914 d wheat penny 1 1

[Marty1102]

Is this just a damaged coin or is this an attempt to make a fake 1914 D penny? I’m not even sure what the date is on this coin to be honest with you. Any ideas?

[Greenstang]

That is a 1944 D cent that someone has attempted (unsuccessfully) to make into a 1914 D cent.    
This is something that occurs quite often.

[Sandon]

   Welcome to the NGC chat board.

   This appears to be a crude effort to alter a cent of another date ending in a "4", most likely a 1944-D, into a 1914-D. The style of the remaining numerals, most notably the "4" is wrong for 1914, and the mintmark is the wrong size and shape. I would also expect that the initials "V.D.B." can be seen on the truncation of Lincoln's bust near the shoulder, which initials don't appear there on coins dated before 1918.

   FYI, here is an image of the obverse of a genuine 1914-D cent.

 

Edited Wednesday at 01:40 AM by Sandon
added missing word

[powermad5000]

Your spidey senses were correct when you suspected this cent. While it is possible that it is just somehow damaged in that area unintentionally, I would not buy that supposition. I think this was meant to deceive but the alteration went horribly wrong and there were several more attempts unsuccessfully made to continue to try to get it to look like a 1914 D Lincoln Wheat, a cent that is commonly counterfeited or altered.

I would agree with Sandon that it most likely was a 1944 D to begin with as that would be a cheaper base cent to start with and the straight 4 a little easier to make into a one, but unless the person doing the altering had great skills, the spacing of the numerals will still be off. The shape of the 4's will be incorrect as Sandon noted, and there would have to be filling of the VDB at the bottom of Abe's bust (make note to check this area for funny business or total oversight if purchasing a 1914 D raw).

The question is what to do with it now? If you throw it back in circulation, someone else who knows just enough to be dangerous in the hobby might get it and think it is a 1914 D and submit it and they will get burned badly (not everyone comes here for help). If you keep it, it has no collector value. I guess it is your choice but I would keep it maybe specially in a cardboard flip and write "ALTERED" on the flip.