Well here' another find. 1982 mis print N instead of U. Reverse E. PLNRIBUS in stead of E.PLURIBUS. what you think? How this happen?
I was collecting all my 1982 cent and drop that one twice i think than look close and saw this. Yes interesting.
From the photos ( somewhat small), it appears to be damage. Something hit the left bottom side of the 'U' at a diagonal and pushed it up and over to form the imaginary diagonal forming the ""N"" appearance. The hit was from a raised angle, so not all of that part of the U moved, the short remainder stayed to become the left vertical of the ""N"". If you look at the N below in UNUM, the right top of its vertical has a diagonal dent that is at the same angle. But interesting indeed. Jim
You'll see damage like this more often on Lincoln cents than on any other type of coin. The copper can be moved very easily. There have been innumerable cents posted on this Error forum with various letters or numerals moved by accidental damage. Chris
Some day for fun and education, take a pre-1982 cent and maybe a miniature flat screwdriver, and try to gently push letters and number about. I think you'll overdo it at first, but as you get the hang of it, you will have knowledge many won't obtain. Use a coin only worth a few cents. No, yours isn't worth grading or such as it is damage, but almost everyone has a "curiosity" jar.
This. The "U" took a hit. In an interesting way, but it's just a coincidence, and the coin is worth one cent. Worthless monetarily, in other words, but fun.
Since the working dies are made from the master die, the master die does not have this error on it. If one of the working dies had this error, there would be hundreds of thousands of these coins. And this just happens to be the first discovery of this error after 35 years? While that is a slim possibility, the more likely explanation is that a hit or several hits or damage to that area has coincidentally made it appear to be an N instead of a U.