In Ken Potter's book, it shows the seperation of a miniscule between the A & M - yet others demand they MUST be touching. Are there variations to this Closed AM issue? Thank you.
The "Close AM" does not always have to be touching- just "close", I think sometimes die wear and polishing might open up a little gap between them. I look for "Wide AM" cents for 1998,99,2000 and just because they're not touching doesn't mean they're Wide AM. Check out my attachment for 2000 cents- both varieties there, yet the close AM isn't exactly touching.
AG, I would have to agree with you , and it is my opinion that the 1992 close AM and the 98,99, and 2000 wide AM'S can be found at both the PHILADELPHIA and DENVER MINTS however there are many that will disagree with me.
I have to say that to save time I only look for 98,99 and 2000 wide AM and only 1992D close AM; out ot curiosity, do you know how many close AM 92-D's are out there? It must be a pretty small number.
Well they are worth a lot more than any of the wide AM cents, so I assume there are a very few amount of them. -Rob
AG, I don't think anyone really knows just how many there are out there of the "92" however with the high premium if you have one I would think the mintage would be low. BRUCE.
The AM do not have to touch to be a close AM. As mentioned earlier polishing of the dies will cause the seperation of the letters to widen. Another way to tell the wide from close if you aren't sure is the look at the vertical of the G in the initials. On the close AM the vertical goes straight up and ends. On the wide AM it goes up and then has a small horizontal serif to the left. To date no wide AM cents have been reported for 1998, 1999, or 2000 from Denver. The 1992 close AM are known from both Philadelphia and Denver. The Denver coins are rare, and currently the Philadelphia piece is unique, but probably more exist. It is very unlikely that wide AM cents exist from Denver for 98,99, and 2000. The wide AM cents are from dies that were impressed with the reverse hub used to make reverse dies for proof cents. Now the Philadelphia mint makes all of their own dies, and they make all of the proof dies used in San Francisco. Before 1997 they also made the dies for Denver. But starting in 1997 Denver had its own die shop and made their own dies. They did not make proof cent dies, so they did not have the wide AM reverse hub. In 98, 99, and 2000 they made their own dies and did not receive dies from Philadelphia. So they could not have made their own wide AM dies, and they would not have received any from Philly. This makes the possibility of D mint wide AM cents basically zero. The only way it could happen would be for a leftover die from 1992 to be found and pressed into service. But since all of the dies are destroyed each year that is also farfetched.
Far all the searching I've done, I came up with 5 of the 92S's that have the A & M closer than 'regular', very close to touching. With all of the confusion, (and also going a bit batty and blind), I put them all for sale on eBay as one lot. Let me tell you about all the different opinions that have been pouring in!
Another question / thought...if a 92D has the 'closed' AM (as far as more closed than the regular), where did the serif on the G come in to play? Wouldn/t a closed AM be just that with or without the serif on the G?
No, the reverse hubs that create the close and wide AM cents are different. There are several differences in the design between the two hubs. The seperation of the AM is just the most noticable one. The G is different on the two hubs as well in both style and placement. One of them, I don't remember which is closer to the Memorial. But it can be difficult to tell if it is close or not unless you have other pieces to compare it to. With or without a horizonal serif is something you can tell from just the one coin in hand.
