Tulares Posted Thursday at 02:18 AM Share Posted Thursday at 02:18 AM I know zilch about coins but have tried to learn a bit about this one, and have concluded it's off-center and rotated. So now I know that much. A brief ebay search leads me to the conclusion that these aren't worth much but it's the only misstrike I've ever seen in person, so I like it. My question is, is there a way to determine the year it was made? So far I've only been able to narrow it down to a 100 year period and was hoping to further refine that down to a decade. RonnieR131 and ThePhiladelphiaPenny 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Sandon Posted Thursday at 02:57 AM Popular Post Share Posted Thursday at 02:57 AM Welcome to the NGC chat board. You appear to have a genuine Lincoln, Memorial reverse cent struck well off center. I can't tell if the dies were also rotated out of the normal "coin alignment" used for U.S. coins, in which when the side you are looking at is right side up, the other side is upside down. Collectors prefer these with the date showing, but this one is still desirable. This is a fairly common type of mint error for this type, and "generic" examples list $12 retail in the current (2025) edition of A Guide Book of United States Coins, commonly referred to as the "Red Book". If the dies were in fact substantially rotated from the coin alignment, it would likely be worth more. Lincoln cents with the Memorial reverse were minted from 1959 through 2008. This one was pretty clearly struck on a 95% copper planchet, which was last used in 1982. Based upon the styles of Lincoln's bust and of the "D" (Denver mint) mintmark, I feel comfortable narrowing the date range down to any year from 1969 through 1973. GoldFinger1969, ThePhiladelphiaPenny and RonnieR131 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powermad5000 Posted Thursday at 02:58 AM Share Posted Thursday at 02:58 AM Hello and welcome to the forum! You do have an error coin for an off center strike and it is a pretty good one. I would say it is about a 50% off center strike. As far as it being rotated, it probably is not. At least I cannot tell from the provided photos. The only way to tell if it happens to be rotated as well is to hold the coin with Abe upright as if it were a normal cent and flip it over top to bottom. If the reverse does not correspond as it should in a normal strike, then it could be rotated dies as well as off center. As for the date, it is cut off due to the large amount this is struck off center. It is impossible to tell exactly what the official date was and this coin would always be a 19XX D Lincoln Memorial cent. The best you could do is narrow down the period it was struck by weighing the coin but that is the best you will be able to narrow it down. Sorry. If it was struck from 1959-1982 in copper alloy, it should weigh around 3.11g. If it was struck after the change from copper alloy to copper-plated zinc so 1982 to 2008, it should weigh somewhere around 2.5g. Just from experience and looking at the planchet and the transition to the struck portion, I would say this would fall into the early 1959-1982 category as I don't see any zinc showing which typically happens on the copper-plated zinc core cents when there is an error or anomaly with the surface which usually stretches and breaks the thin copper plating. GoldFinger1969 and RonnieR131 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulares Posted Thursday at 02:26 PM Author Share Posted Thursday at 02:26 PM Thank you both very much! I went back and adjusted the photos to show Abe upright, then the reverse flipped appropriately. I think you're right that it doesn't appear rotated. Unfortunately the only scale I have is for weighing post office packages and it is squirrely when dealing with something this light. But the different weights is good information that I'll investigate if I find a scale. I have a bunch of old coins that I've glanced at, but now that I know about this forum I'll go back and look at them more carefully. I can see why people get sucked in (I'm also a collector, but not of coins... yet). powermad5000 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Neophyte Numismatist Posted Thursday at 02:57 PM Share Posted Thursday at 02:57 PM On 10/24/2024 at 10:26 AM, Tulares said: Thank you both very much! I went back and adjusted the photos to show Abe upright, then the reverse flipped appropriately. I think you're right that it doesn't appear rotated. Unfortunately the only scale I have is for weighing post office packages and it is squirrely when dealing with something this light. But the different weights is good information that I'll investigate if I find a scale. I have a bunch of old coins that I've glanced at, but now that I know about this forum I'll go back and look at them more carefully. I can see why people get sucked in (I'm also a collector, but not of coins... yet). Welcome to the boards. Given the orientation of the planchette, I think your coin was not struck on rotated dies. However, this is a SUPER cool find. While not valuable, this is a fun way to start the collection. Congrats ThePhiladelphiaPenny and RonnieR131 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Just Bob Posted Thursday at 03:23 PM Popular Post Share Posted Thursday at 03:23 PM Yay! A genuine error! This deserves a banana dance! Welcome to the forum. powermad5000, GoldFinger1969, The Neophyte Numismatist and 2 others 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Tulares Posted Thursday at 04:08 PM Author Popular Post Share Posted Thursday at 04:08 PM Thank you all. And I'm glad the coin can excite some bananas out there. RonnieR131, ThePhiladelphiaPenny and GoldFinger1969 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henri Charriere Posted Friday at 02:18 AM Share Posted Friday at 02:18 AM Q.A.: An ERROR? Was the finding confirmed? Wow? 🐓 : "Fairy tales can come true. It can happen to you, if you're young at heart..." Courtesy: Frank Sinatra Congratulations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powermad5000 Posted Friday at 04:33 AM Share Posted Friday at 04:33 AM On 10/24/2024 at 10:23 AM, Just Bob said: This deserves a banana dance! Are we officially calling it the banana dance from here on out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePhiladelphiaPenny Posted Friday at 02:49 PM Share Posted Friday at 02:49 PM (edited) On 10/25/2024 at 12:33 AM, powermad5000 said: Are we officially calling it the banana dance from here on out? Absolutely! Edited Friday at 02:49 PM by ThePhiladelphiaPenny powermad5000 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henri Charriere Posted Friday at 05:13 PM Share Posted Friday at 05:13 PM On 10/25/2024 at 12:33 AM, powermad5000 said: Are we officially calling it the banana dance from here on out? Yes, unless you can come up up with something better. powermad5000 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
