the first and only error of this type i have ever seen or read about. . If anyone has any information on this please let me know.. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=652110397 facebook link. thank you.
If you want to get technical, yes, I suppose it would be considered an "error", though it has nothing to do with the die, and more with the planchet. However, it is extremely common on post-1982 cents and all the ones I find I just toss out...they really don't command much collector interest or any significant premiums.
no matter what it should have some kind of value.. being it is a circulated coin. And is an error. i can;t see why everyone is giving this example such a hard time.
I am just stating my opinion based on experience and seeing these coins go up for sale. Don't take my opinion as "trying to give this error a hard time". 2 things dictate value for a coin: supply and demand. I could open up a single roll from a bank and probably find 5 coins with similar plating issues. These are extremely abundant in all grades. So there is a very large supply of them. They aren't a very appealing "error". There isn't really a wow factor in my opinion. So demand for these is quite low, if existent at all. These two things mean that there is not much of value here. I am not at all saying don't put it up on ebay. But if you do, just remember that there is nothing "rare" about it, and don't be disappointed if you don't get any bites on it. Here is some more info on it. http://www.error-ref.com/BlisteredPlating.html
what non cents forgot to tell you was that this is common for the copper plating to swell out like this. since 1983 our cent coins are the yucky zinc with a super thin copper plating. what happens is that around the date, mint mark and other details is that the copper plating will get a tiny crack in it during striking of the coins or maybe a scratch in the copper plating later on, this allows the zinc core to rot . when the zinc rots it naturally swells out and pushes the copper plating out . if you look thru very many coins you will find them a lot worse than your coin. these are worth only one cent and some of them I find are not worth a cent because they fall apart from this yucky zinc rot. these have to be trashed because they are no longer a cent coin after they rot away too much.
As rascal and non_cents indicate, this is a common situation. I would not refer to it as an error, as the criteria is that errors leave the mint in the 'error' condition and others develop the appearance after the mint through such as environmental damage. I would say that this is 'environmental damage' more than an 'error'.
then i would like to question all these other claims of what people are considering to be an error type grade of circulated coins as well..
I agree with Simon that it's technically an error, but it is such a common one(much like misaligned dies) that it does not command a premium. You can barely search a roll of zincolns without finding plating issues.
so would it be my best interest to maybe set aside the pennies and graduate my circulated searches to nickels and dimes perhaps?
I wouldn't say that at all. There are plenty of varieties and more substantial errors to be found in the Lincoln Cent series. There are also plenty of minor, common error to be found on nickels and dimes.
IMO you are correct. I agree with you about the copper plating problems being called damage because this is caused by environmental problems. the OP's user name is WestVirginiaDiggers and he or she probably found this coin with a metal detector. I have found many of the zinc cent coins with metal detectors that were almost completely rotted away.
Let's not assume now.. this is a circulated coin from a roll purchased from the bank.. In very good condition considering the mint mark.