I have a 1922 no d penny (die pair #2) and I have been searching eBay to compare mine to those for sale. I have been noticing most if not all eBay listings are quite worn. My question is why are most really worn out? Did this mistake not get noticed until years after these coins were released? Also there are some listed as au50 or au55 that look quite circulated and worn. Is there a grading difference for this Coin? Do some ms or truly uncirculated coins exist? Any idea how many of these coins exist, I read somewhere that there may be only 15,000 or so. Thanks for your help Roger
The strike quality was really poor to begin with, even MS coins look XF. There are a few MS red coins that look fairly horrendous. They command a pretty penny, but they are not pretty themselves.
The 1922 "P" cent was made using a obv die that was at the end of its operational life and the die itself was very heavily worn.. the die originally did have the D mintmark on it but after all that wear, combined with a final polishing, the D was completely removed from the die. Like Kirkuleez said even brand new falling from the dies the 22 "P" probably looked no better than an XF. then combine that with the fact that at the time collectors in general did not collect by date and mint. Most of them just collected one for each year. Date and mint collecting didn't really take off as the norm until the introduction of the coin boards in the 1930's. So the 22 "P" had a chance to do a fair amount of circulating before that time. Then add in the final factor, promotion. If not for the advertizing and hype how many people would actually be collecting them? How many people do you hear about getting excited over 1968, 69 and 70 "P" nickels? Philadelphia didn't make any nickels those years, but coins without mintmarks exist. Probably caused by grease and die polish, but they do exist. When was the last time you heard about them? When it comes to errors promotion and hype is a big factor in value.
I have talked at length with graders from both NGC and PCGS as well as long time numismatists and all agree on the basic grading of the 1922 - plain. The primary consideration is the reverse. To my knowledge this is the only coin graded this way. Even the few MS have an obverse that would be VF at best on any other Lincoln. This is why such a premium is placed on reverse die #2. It was the only reverse die that came even close to producing a sharp strike. If you check Hertitage auction records you will find several pictured MS - all are BR or RB. Also bear in mind Conder's point; no one knew about or looked for the coin in circulation until long after 1922.
River: Also, becuase it is believed that that obverse is the only one that is a true missing MM, and not a greased/clogged/whatever die.
Thanks for all the responses. Very informative. I posted a picture of this coin about a year ago and was told it was probably xf. I will get it stabbed someday, maybe it would come back au...that would be great! Also, I mentioned I read somewhere (but I can not find where) that there may only be around 15 ,000 of these around. Anyone ever read anything about how many actually exist?
