I was looking through some coins that I won a few years ago in an auction. Two of the 1960-D cents look like small dates to me. What do you think?
Yes, they look like small dates. But unlike the 60 (no mm) small date, the 60-D small date isn't worth that much (if any) more than the large date variety.
Yes, it may not be worth more, but it does fill in two slots in two coin albums. The small dates may be as common as the large dates, but they are the only ones that I've got compared to a plethora of large dates. The small dates must have never reached central NY
Yeah, that must be the case because I just picked up a random 60-D that is sitting on my desk and it happens to be a small date. But, regardless of value, it is nice to have different varieties of a coin.
Check out coppercoins.com and see. It is rather amazing if you really want to get into Lincoln cents. Best part is you can search for these or purchase many without a high premium because not too many collectors are specializing in this yet.
You should really still check the 60-Ds carefully as the change from small date to a new design large date came during the year when damage occurred to the original master , and some working dies were hubbed by a large date hub and also a small date hub, producing a design type (III) doubled die. Small over large and Large over small varieties both in MS and PF.
The coin book companies seem to only recognize a few of the so called "varieties". Some have holes for the 1955 DDO, 1960 and 1960-D small and large dates, the 1970-S small and large dates, 1979-S Type 1 and 2, and seven different cents from 1982.
That is true. Even the Cherrypickers' guide is limited in its recognition of what a collector should look for. However, there are still quite a few cool varieties not highly published that are worth going after. Generally, if Coneca and/or Wexler recognizes it, it is worth considering adding to any Lincoln collection. For example, other than general small and large dates for 1960, there are 4 1960D varieties worth looking for (Jim mentioned one above).
Since no two coins are exactly the same, it leads to the question of when it is truly a variety. I've decided to defer to the coin book guys. Of course, they don't seem to agree with each other. Thus, I go with the one that I bought.
I disagree, since coins are produced like dies in a "cookie cutter" type fashion, you can have many coins that are essentially the same. Imagine that the dies are cookie cutters, and the coins are the cookie dough. Each time you place the cookie cutter down on the dough, you get the same exact image. Likewise, a single die minting a coin would produce the same exact design on each coin. An example would be two doubled dies produced by the same die. The doubled dies could be exactly the same, right down to the markers. The only thing that would make them different in this case are the effects of being in circulation, such as contact marks, etc.
If we are speaking philosophically, then yes at a microscopic, atom-by-atom level no two coins are the same. However, there is a clear delineation between a variety and an error. A variety can be found multiple times and appear the same on a macroscopic level, whereas errors tend to be unique.
I was being a little facetious. I agree with the key ones but was thinking that 4,000 of them for Lincoln cents only, may be a little over the top.
May I ask where you got this number from? If including even the most minor varieties, this number seems low.
You (as was I at one time) might be surprised at the number of varieties there are, as long as the very minor are included. In a conversation with Mr. Wexler some years ago he told me that there are over 100 different DDRs known for the 1964-P 1C alone. Even if this is a rather extreme example, just think about the countless repunches known, or the crazy number of 09 doubled dies... they add up quickly. The gentleman who quoted 4000 also mentioned coppercoins, and after a quick check, they list around 2800 (IIRC), but the site is far from complete. That said, I suppose the true number all depends on what one considers a legitimate and/or worthwhile variety.
The number is much higher. I once asked Chuck D.: "If you had a complete collection of Lincolns, including every date/mint/variety, how many coins would be in it?" He estimated greater than 10,000.
