My question is about a 1988 penny. Are business strike pennies of that year close AM or wide AM? Which is it supposed to be?
Its neither - I kinda pushed to make the 1988 RDV-006 a variety if that is what you're looking for. Here is the copy of the article from 2007. Most 1988's are supposed to be RDV-005 and some got the next year design RDV-006. Here is a link from variety vista that shows the differences of the different Memorial designs. I'll also add that the Close AM design didn't come out until 1992 so in 1988 that option didn't exist with the RDV-006 design. Hope this helps.... Any others question - just ask Snowman ...http://varietyvista.com/25 What Are Die Varieties/Lincoln Cent Memorial RDV Changes.htm
For REAL WAM vs CAM, you are looking for this: For 1988 "Wide AM" you are actually looking for a "Reverse of 89": For REAL WAM/CAM: 1959-1992 all business strikes are supposed to have a WAM 1993-2008 all Business strikes are supposes to have a CAM
can you get a close-up of the FG? as far as I can see the variety you found is non-valuable For 1988 you want to look for the reverse of 89, however, for dates like 1992, you want to look for the CAM/WAM
there is no such thing as a close or far AM when it comes to the 1988 Lincoln cent it is simply the designer initials. The variety is a 1988 Lincoln cent with the designers initial on the reverse near the memorial it looks like FG with a flared G
I'm aware that this coin is very worn but if it were in better condition, would it be valuable, being it's a CAM?
No. WAM vs CAM was not a thing until the late 80s and 90s. All you have here is a first year Lincoln memorial cent. Worth just one cent. If it was in better condition, it really wouldn’t be anything special considering there are plenty out there.