Lincoln Cent Varities

[John Martinez]

First a little background, then my findings.

 

When I was a child, my aunts gave me a Lincoln Cent folder with a few in there. I filled that thing up. I filed it away and recently “got the bug” again. I saw a post where Billy Crawford had a few copies of his “A Detailed Analysis of Lincoln Cent Varieties Volume I” and jumped on it.

 

My daughter did a stint as a waitress and I was her bank changing coins into dollars.

 

For months, now, on and off (a few hours on the weekend), I’ve been looking at them and comparing to Billy’s book. I was also looking under my son’s microscope for other things as well. I found some of Billy’s die varieties and the below, that I could not find in the book….I could of overlooked them, Billy, so forgive me if I did.

 

I do not have the equipment (yet) to take pictures under the microscope – which would be equivalent to the pictures in Billy’s book. But here is a brief description of what I found so far in pocket change.

 

1973 “United States” Additional metal on the tops of the letters smeared towards the edge on REV.

1982 (Specific type unknown) Large amounts of die cracks. Looks like pimples on OBV and REV.

1983 What appears to be die cracks near “IN GOD WE” on OBV.

1983 Matches your 1983 CDDR-02; however on OBV LARGE die gouge in field above “Liberty”. Could it be the substrate that is corroding? You can see it with the unaided eye.

1989 Die cracks across date on OBV and die cracks in field on REV.

1991 Appears to be a “Type II” reverse.

1992 Ditto.

1993 Die crack – small dot – in field near “T” in “CENT” on REV.

1993 Die cracks – in date on OBV and in and around “United” on REV.

1997 Interesting. Has the same markings as another post here, but also I can’t tell if the cladding is cracked or if it’s corrosion around the edge.

1998 Die gouge near “LIBERTY” AND “IN GOD WE” on OBV.

2006 Die gouge in “O” in “ONE”.

 

I purchased a larger album that covers earlier and later dates, so I'm filling them in as well.

[Snowman24]

John

 

you wrote of 1991 and 1992 with a type II reverse.

 

i thought that was the wide "AM" version found only on 92D,98,99,2000 cents

 

if you or someone else could explain that would help me . Always more to learning on cent varieties

 

Thanks Jeff

[John Martinez]

Yes. Normally the "A" and "M" are typset close together. As I understand the Type II they are typset apart - I use "typset" loosley here because I understand it is a die. I stated "appears" to be because I am no expert and was hoping Billy Crawford would pick up on it and comment. I wish I had the equipment to photograph what I see.

[Die Varieties]

The 1992 P & D cents and preceeding years are normal Type II (Wide/Separated AM) for the reverse. It was 1993 that the reverse for business strikes were switched to Type I (close AM) reverses.

 

The extremely rare one is the 1992-D 1c Type I (close AM). It was suppose to be normally mated with the Type II (wide AM) but the theory goes that at the end of the production year a press operator was switching out the reverse dies (going to the 1993 Type I reverse) but forget to change out one of the 1992-D obverse dies. Therefore, we have the rare 1992-D 1c mated with the Type I (close AM) reverse which can command in the thousands of dollars premium depending on grade/color of the coin. I saw one hammer on eBay at $2500 and it was in my opinion a UNC Red/Brown specimen from the photos provided in the auction. I examined another specimen that was later sent in to NGC and graded an MS-66/Red. Speculating -- that coin would probably command $5k ball-park range if put on the market. Since there are only a handful known it would appear the press operator probably caught his mistake and quickly stopped the press.

 

The next rare one is the 1999 1c Type II (wide AM) reverse. It is speculated that only one die pair was involved in this one. All of the specimens that I have examined to date exhibited the exact same die markers for the obverse and reverse.

 

Finally, the 1998 and 2000 1c Type II (wide AM) reverses. It is speculated that a box of proof dies were inadvertantly set-up on the presses. I have examined many of these with various different die markers. Depending in what geographical area you live in one will find one or the other in different frequency. I come across on average about 1 to 2 1998 1c Type II (wide AM) reverses about every $50 searched from my local banks while I only come across one of the 2000 1c Type II about every $500 searched. Others report to me the opposite, in that they find the 2000 more often and seldom come across the 1998. So again -- this depends in what area your in.

 

I have yet to come across a 1992-D 1c Type I (close AM) yet. But then again I'm on the east coast and very seldom see any 92-D cents anyway.

[John Martinez]

Thanks Billy. When I get photo capability I'll post some of these. I don't see the following described anywhere else and intrested to see what it is and if it's unique to this one.

-- 1983 Matches your 1983 CDDR-02; however on OBV LARGE die gouge in field above “Liberty”. Could it be the substrate that is corroding? You can see it with the unaided eye. --

Again, thanks and I put your book to good use.

[Die Varieties]

I checked my files and don't see a large die gouge above LIBERTY on the obverse for the 1983 1c CDDR-002.

 

Another interesting tidbit on the 1998 1c Type II (wide AM) reverse. A variety collector stopped by my house this very morning with a BU roll of 1998 cents. Out of that one roll were three different 1998 Type II reverses.

[John Martinez]

How do you copy and past in this portion? I've scanned them and you can see the 1983 - I call it a die gouge. The 1983 has the same characteristics as your 1983 1c CDDR-002 - only it has the additional feature. The picture has the 1983 OBV and the 1991 Type II Rev. Next best thing. Go to:

www.ezhealthnet.com/images/1983-1991.jpg

 

[MunkyMan95]

John's Lincoln Cent:

 

[Die Varieties]

How do you copy and past in this portion? I've scanned them and you can see the 1983 - I call it a die gouge. The 1983 has the same characteristics as your 1983 1c CDDR-002 - only it has the additional feature. The picture has the 1983 OBV and the 1991 Type II Rev. Next best thing. Go to:

www.ezhealthnet.com/images/1983-1991.jpg

 

John: Kind hard to tell with the small scans but I'm guessing it looks like some kind of plating problem (occluded gaseous bubble?) that is showing on the 1983 obverse above LIBERTY in the field. The 1991 cent Type II (wide AM) reverse is normal for that year.

 

For anyone that may be interested -- the first issue of the online Die Variety News is free and available for viewing. Future online issues of DVN will require subscription. Inaugural Issue of Die Variety News Online Home Page

 

Have a great day ...

[John Martinez]

Thanks, Chad. Can you PM me on how to do that. I tried copy and paste to no avail.

Thanks, Billy. I thought that it was corrosion on the substrate -much like rust on a chrome bumper - , so your explination is plausable.