No mintmark simply means it was made at the main mint in Philadelphia. We actually call this kind of damage, "Parking Lot Damage". And you probably know why. By the way, that's a neat find! You don't see pre-1934 wheat cents around very often.
This "no mint mark" stuff is so irritating. There has never been a P mint mark on cents except for 2017 for the 225th anniversary of the Philadelphia mint. Except for the war nickels there was never a P on any coin until 1979. Whoever started this nonsense needs to be tarred and feathered like the old days.
The problem is that all the people asking were born after 1979. All they know is all coins have a P mint mark.
Nice try but we all know that ain’t true, for 2 reasons: 1) They didn’t have parking lots in 1926 and 2) It was face down in the dirt/road/gravel, that’s why the obverse is all chewed up. So, the reverse would have been really environmentally damaged after 99 years, super toned and weathered. My theory: The reverse looks like it belongs to a collectable coin. It was stolen from a collection. While on the way to be liquidated at a local LCS, the thief dropped it (in his haste) and our illustrious OP found it. I concede I may be way off on the 1926 parking lot angle, but if there was a parking lot in 1926 it was one of the first ones ever.
I saw this in my Cystal ball just before you said it. Look at my post above. I got this idea from a coin that I believe was dropped and found by your truly, me. It was in the ground a few inches where I also believe the homesteaders left the family wagon circa 1700's. See....
That 1926 cent is what some of us affectionately refer to as "roadkill". Despite being 99 years old, I'm afraid it's only worth its face value of one cent in that condition. And it's not an error. Merely damaged. However, it is still VERY cool to find coins "in the wild" that are a century old.
