My Minting Varieties and erros guide show just about the same cent with the following discription: The cent may have been struck on a improperly annealed planchet. A coin struck on a hard planchet will have poor metal flow into the design. Cause may be due to equipment failur or operator error.
As the obverse is normal, I don't think annealing problems are the cause for the odd reverse. One would expect both sides to be impacted if the metal is too hard for effective minting.
The reverse was struck through "grease". This term is actually a misnomer since a variety of substances is responsible for these effect. In any case, what you've got here is something I term a "greasy ghost". Die fill ( "grease") of just the right consistency and viscosity tends to flow toward the area of lowest effective striking pressure, in this case the area opposite Lincoln's bust. The die fill creates a vague, shallow, incuse version of Lincoln's bust. Greasy ghosts occur in other denominations as well.
mike - I noticed the shape you describe, but couldn't think of the reason for it. Makes sense. Thanks.
Now it makes perfect sense as to why its the way it is.. Thank you Mike. This old dog just learned another trick. Good ole Coin Talk..
Can anybody tell me if what i have is similar to this? I thought it was a grease filled die, but now that I look at it, the wheat back has an outline of Lincoln
What you have is something completely different. It is progressive, indirect design transfer -- a form of die deterioration. A vague image of Lincoln's bust was transferred to the reverse die through the medium of hundreds of thousands of planchets. It's especially common in S-mintmark cents from 1946 - 1848.
