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The term means that the "A" and the "M" in AMERICA are close together! All Lincoln Cents generally before 1993 had a wide space between the "A" and the "M" (designated Wide AM). In 1992, the Mints decided to make all Business Strike Cents "Close AM" and Proof Cents "Wide AM". There are some technicall reasoning behind the Mints doing this but I think they did mainly so someone could tell the difference between to two! While most 1992 cents are of the "Wide AM" type, there were some "Close AM" types that were minted and put into circulation. In 1998, 1999 and 2000, the Mints had a lot of Die failures and some Proof Dies were sent back to Phiiladelphia for use in minting Business Strike Cents, thus the 1998, 1999 and 2000 "Wide AM" Variety (Business Strike) Cents came to be. As a result, in 1998 and 1999 (and possibly 2000) the San Francisco Mint had to request and use some Business Strike Cent Dies for minting Proof Cents to meet production demands, thus the 1998 and 1999 Proof "Close AM Variety" Cents were born! Although it is quite possible that some 2000 Proof Cents were struck using the Business Strike or Close AM type Dies, no specimens have been found to Date.
To tell the difference between the Wide AM and Close AM type Cents, just look at the "AM" in AMERICA on the back of a pre-1992 Business Strike Cent compared to the same of a post-1992 Business Strike Cent!
Frank
Last edited by huntsman53; 03-25-2007 at 08:15 AM.
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Close AM 
The best bet is to do what huntsman53 recommended - look at a 1992 penny and then look at a post 1992 penny. However, close AMs exist in the 1992 D and it is rumored in the 1992 as well! If you find any of those - please take pictures and share with us - but I must say I've been looking for years and although I've found 1998, 1999 and 2000 Wide AMs... haven't gotten my hands on a 1992 D Close AM yet.
Hybrid Mode
