an attempt at an educational topic Lincoln Cents Lincoln cents are one of the most commonly collected sets in muistmatics for many reasons. - Several low mintage years make for difficult coins to find. - Several of the earlier Wheats are weakly struck, therefor putting a nice premium on the strong struck. - There are several, well known, RPM's (repunched mintmarks), OMMs (over mint marks), and many variety's to collect. Lets start with the early wheats adn show the comparison between a strong struck (bold) Lincoln cent, a worn Lincoln, and a weak struck Lincoln. Most pictures courtesy of www.HA.com Here is the Strong Struck 22 D as you can see, all detail in the beard, cheeks, and hair are all visible, with a strong mintmark and lettering. In situations with weak struck Lincolns you will find that the difference between that and worn cents are weak strikes will not have flat spots on detailed sections like a worn cent would, But a lack of detail will be present. This one has been designated MS 63 by PCGS. on a worn cent you will notice flat spots on the high locations of the coin, such as this one designated XF 40 by PCGS It is fairly common to find weak strikes on Lincolns from the teens and 20's. some well known weak strikes are, 24 D's, 26 S's, and the obvious 22 D. Finding these with a nice strike, a "nice" price is usually no where to be found. Some well known Variety Lincolns would be the 1960 Small date/large date, the 55 DDO, and the 46 S inverted mint mark. Pictures courtesy of www.lincolncentresource.com For the small date you will notice a pointed 6 and a large gap between the numbers in the date as opposed to the large date variety, where there will be a smaller gap and blunt 6's The inverted mint mark on the 46 is a little harder to notice due to the fact that an S looks like an S regardless which way its facing. And the 55 DDO is one of the most sought after Key coins in the series. The strong doubling on the date and motto is easily noticeable without a loupe. I hope this has sparked some interest in Lincolns for some of you. weather you want to collect high RED coins, or variety's Lincolns will keep you busy for quite some time. Enjoy! Snaz
Snaz , very interesting , although it was the 1st coin I collected I really don't know much of the specifics of the series . rzage BTW a well struck Lincoln is a beautiful coin in it's own right .
Just as an addenda, the single coin I have had the most trouble finding well struck is the 1924-S. I have found some good wheat lines on these, but not a well struck bust. Also, my local shop owner wanted to see any 23-S I found with good wheats. I surprised both of us with the one I managed to find.
very hard to believe that the 2nd 22 was an MS63 by anybody. But you've got some very nice photo's there.
Look for the 1916 and 1917 Lincolns. They just recut the dies (both years, they believe) and Abe has a full beard with whiskers and even locks of hair discernible over his ear. I DO agree with you about it being a beautiful coin until he lost his beard or they gave him noodles in place of his whiskers.
I agree with the MS 63 comment here earlier, and strongly agree with the noodle whiskers comment. nothings better than a strong struck teens cent. isnt the finest Lincoln known a 1916?
Supposedly the dies was recut again for 1917 and my preference is that year. I have looked at the best Heritage has to offer for both years and there appears to me to be more detail for the 1917 that on any 1916. However, I am not talking about proofs here.
Very interesting snaz, I did not know that about the mm on the 46-S cents! Thanks for the info. :thumb: To me the toughest dates to find a strong strike is: 18-S 18-D 20-S (real toughie!) 20-D 22-D (duh But not as tough as the 20-S actually, and a few other dates, IMHO) 23-S (this is supposed to be a real toughie) 24-D 24-S (this is a tough one, almost as tough as the 20-S IMHO!) 25-D (according to the Lange book, this coin vies with the 25-S for worst made coins out of the series! These coins for some reason aren't known to be though, unless you are really into the series) 25-S (read above ) 26-D 26-S (of course, this is a real tough one) 27-S (pretty tough to find nicely struck) 28-S Those are what I'd consider the toughest to find with real nice strikes, there are other weak dates (like the 11-D, and the 12-D) but these seem to be the main ones. I might have missed a few, but I think that pretty much covers them all. Thanks for the post snaz! :thumb: Phoenix
thanks for the comment phoenix! glad I showed you the inverted S! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=130254279725 this one I feel has an alright strike. I was so tempted to buy it.. EDIT: also, I just picked up a real nice 26 S when I went to the shop. for some reason I cant stop buying 24 D's and 26 S's im so far away from my coins though, havnt seen them for quite some time
Not sure on why the explanations of some of the Cents. All that is needed is a reference to places like the Lincoln Cent Resourse web site or www.coppercoins.com In either place there is a complete listing of just about every date Lincoln Cent, all varieties, all types of errors, photos of each and lots, lots, lots more.
Try this one for the search function http://www.coppercoins.com/advsearch.php Insert the date and mint, and then any other factor to reduce the number of hits. Jim
I know I can find the varieties there, but dead link. under departments, Lincoln cents - they are all dead links. From http://www.lincolncent.com/, April promises remain undone. In other words, it is useless to me except the varieties (which I do not collect).
Are there two sizes of Lincoln's head? I do not have and measuring tool/s (micrometer, calipers, etc.) for the accuracy needed to measure the head. It sure looks like there is a large and a small. zg
I have a question...I found an 1987 Phil. lincoln cent missing the "L" in "Liberty." Any ideas? It also has a small ripple through "In God We Trust" with "In" almost missing. Is this a random error, something to hang on to? I just got into collecting and so don't know where to start on such oddities.
