help with a 1970s penny

I found these two in a roll today and after reading my redbook found that there is a small date and a large date for this year and mint mark. Which do I have here , one of each, or a small and a large date, or ?????? I looked at the pic. in the book and still have a hard time telling. Thanks

 

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I'm not very experienced in this category of numismatics, but I know from prior situations dealing with these coins that the "Small Date" variety lines number '9' with the number '7' near the very top of the date. So, if you were to draw a straight, horizontal line directly above the date, all of the numbers should be of equal height. Sorry if this explanation isn't very helpful. I've included a link to a website that may be of further, more accurate assistance. ...

http://lincolncentresource.com/smalldates/1970Ssmalldate.html

-Brian

 

Yours are both the common variety.

 

I received a couple of these as well roll searching and also consulted the red book but can not tell myself, hopefully some one can answer this for the both of us. And before anyone else does cuz I guess it make's em feel smart, "it's called a cent, not a penny."

 

Is that what you've concluded? It's difficult to tell by the photographs the thread creator has included...

-Brian

 

The tops of the nine and the seven must line up. I'm almost positive they do not, even though, as you said, it's tough to tell.

Also, both "LIBERTY"s are rather bold and well-struck. A small-date will always have a mushy liberty, especially the e and ty.

EDIT: Here's the link I use;

http://koinpro.tripod.com/Articles/1970S1cSmAndLgDtCompare.htm

 

One thing that gets me is look at the coin on the right( sorry about the bad pic) look how close the tail of the 9 comes to the mint mark and then how far away it is from the mint mark on the coin on the left. Thanks for all the help and the links.

 

Both of the coins you have are 1970 S Large Date. The small date was the earlier die that was changed when they kept breaking at the date. I gotta tell you, I went through dozens of rolls of 70S cents and posted pic after pic here to see if I found one. What I finally did was to purchase a proof set with the 70 s small date cent. With a comparison coin in hand, it's very easy to see the difference. I mean, people tell you about the dropped 7, the weak "LIBERTY" and various methods to spot one. Unfortunately, I was never able to do it from advice or pics. But placing a questionable coin along side a known variety made it much more obvious for me.

gary

 

The curl of the nine is another obvious way if you have a strong loupe.

 

Two different coins struck by two different dies. You have to remember that mintmarks were punched into the working dies by hand in 1970. A working hub would be used to produce practically identical working dies (used to strike the coins) but each one would be just slightly different from the others once the mintmark was added.

 

When comparing the small and large date side by side, I find the most notable difference (the thing that pops first to me) is the loop of the "9" The small date looks nearly closed, while the large date is wide open. The even "7" actually is quite a bit higher than you expect to see. There is no doubt that it is way up there, even with the "0". I got a bit lucky and picked up my set for less than $70 including the shipping. I believe the retail on the cent is close to that, but being able to search boxes without letting a good one slip through is worth something. IMHO

gary

 

Thanks again for all the replies. I learned a lot of new stuff from this. When I post these threads Im always hoping that I have found a valuable coin, but Im not one to waste a lot of time trying to say it is when clearly it is not, but the knowledge that I get from it is just as valuable in the long run. Soon I want have so many questions but will have more answers.

 

Nothing wrong with asking questions as long as you don't insult us for telling you that what you've got isn't rare or valuable, like some posters in the past have.

 

Anyone have side by side pics of actual coins for comparison?

 

Both are large dates.

I suggest you buy a true small date for the future. They are cheap and serve as a nice reference point so you won't have to ask ever again. Once you see them next to each other, the small date is pretty obvious.