1955 penny, heads only

My son has found a 1955 penny that is mis-stamped.
It only has heads, the tails is obviously a print of where the tails die should have been.

Any body know what this might be worth?

 

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On Something like this, a picture is worth a thousand words. We can give you a better idea of what it is if you can post a picture. You can use a scanner or a digital camera , if available. If not, a better description of the reverse, (Tails side) would be helpful
Thanks,
Bill

 

to CoinTalk bobmac.

In addition to what foundinrolls said, you need to weigh the coin. A genuine '55 cent will weigh 3.11 grams. One that has been altered by scraping, filing, tooling, etc., will be noticeably lighter. If you don't have an appropriate scale, just balance it on a popsicle stick or something similar, on top of a pencil. You can use any cent dated 1981 or earlier as the known sample, but since the weight was reduced to 2.5g during 1982, the newer ones won't work in that test.

The fact that the obverse appears normal rules out any method of pounding or hammering the reverse flat, and it's very unlikely that a reverse die was so filled with grease that there is no sign of it on the coin.

Due to the nature of the minting process, it is very, very likely that you have a coin with after-mint damage, not a true mint error. If there really was no reverse die mounted, or it had somehow slipped below it's proper placement, the obverse should show very mushy details, as it would not have received the full normal amount of stamping pressure.

 

Thanks for the information.
Here are some pictures:

 

Please post the weight, or at least its comparison to a known 3.11g cent.

Mike Diamond, or one of our other members with real error coin expertise should be along any time to give you an authoritative opinion now that they can see what you have.

 

The revers of the cent looks like a split after strike. If a split occurs after the strike, only one side will have been in contact with the dies, and the other side will show the lines where the split occurred. Just my opinion.

Lou

 

Satootoko:
I went to a local jewelers, and he weighed it in at 2.5g, considerably less than the original minted 3.11g. Is it possible that the extra mass was somehow stripped from the blank during this process, or do you think that it is after minting damage? I cannot see how the face cannot be damaged during any alterations to the back, but that is why I am here. I am not by any means familiar with coins. Just REALLY curious.
LSM:
What is a split after strike? Two blanks in the same dye? The back looks like it was pressed into a non-machined surface, what I would imagine to be the "cradle" for the other dye, as if the die came out of the press or something, (just grabbing at straws, I really want it to be mint oddity...). It does not look like it was pressed against another blank, (forgive me for not using proper terminology).

 

It means that the metal did not bond properly when the planchet was made causing the revers of your cent to split. Lets see what some of the other members opinions are.

Lou

 

LSM's suggestion makes a lot of sense to me, especially factoring in the weight discrepancy.

If a defective planchet received a full strike, each side would get normal pressure and display normal characteristics.

If the parts then separated, almost like splitting a piece of slate, one side would have an obverse strike, and the other would have a reverse strike.

The appearance of your coin is consistent with that scenario, with the split off portion being entirely within the rims.

Since such a split would result from a defect in the planchet, and not from after-mint damage, I would consider the result to be an error coin, not a damaged one.

Value? Since it is either a one-of-a-kind, or one of a very few of a kind, there is no way to put a value on it except to auction it at a properly publicized auction attended by error collectors, and see what it brings.

 

Hi,

My first thought was that this was the result of a planchet splitting after a strike. What makes it unusual and perhaps the result of after mint tampering is that "split planchet errors" usually appear to have a surface that is rougher on the side of the split. The reverse of this coin seems to smooth to me.

That is not to say that this coin is not a "split planchet" error but this may just be exhibiting some other form of damage.

I would also be very curious to see Mike's thoughts on this one!

Thanks,
Bill

 

I just took more pictures at different angles and lighting so you can see the detail a little better.




I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

And thank so much for your assistance. All of you are really helping me a lot.

 

It could also have been tooled to be part of a "Magician's Coin" One coin is hollowed out and another has the obverse or the reverse "shaved" down so that is fits inside the hollowed coin.

I am still not sure it is a split planchet error.

Bill

 

I'm sending Mike a PM asking him to stop by and see what he thinks....I think most of the time he keeps to the Error forum.

Speedy

 

Thats is not part of a magician coin.

Anyways I am pretty sure this is not post-mint damage.


You are going to want to save onto that coin, could be worth some money.


-Rob

 

Should I repost this on the Error Forum too?

 

Please do not post the same topic on more than one forum.

 

Nope---Mike will stop by here to help!...I PM'ed him a link to right here.

Speedy

 

I think it is more likely that the reverse was removed outside the mint by some kind of coarse mechanical scraping action. The striations seem a bit wider than normal. Also the featureless reverse face meets the edge of the coin at a sharp right angle; this is also not a typical pattern. The absence of striations over much of the reverse is also not typical. Finally, and perhaps most telling, at a weight of 2.5 grams we're talking about a relatively thin layer detaching after the strike. This should have left a blurred, raised version of the reverse design behind. The totality of the evidence strongly indicates post-strike alteration.

 

Oh well, It was fun, and I really learned a lot about coins the past few days!

Thanks ALL for your help. It is still a neat find, and, although dissapointed it is not one of the worlds new treasures, I had a lot of fun watching the experts ponder over it.

Maybe I'll speak to you again if we find another strange coin.
By for now.

 

Howdy
Stay around and you will find that you will be bitten by the coin collecting bug!.....

Speedy