Not even close to genuine. The “D” is punched on, after the fact. Note the style, position, and consistency of the date and mint mark on a real, certified PCGS MS 66 1914 D.
The date and mint mark are too strong for the rest of the coin. They look like they were conveniently “dropped in” to make a key date piece. I vote counterfeit.
Are these the only ones, just five obverse dies? Do we know? That would average to 238,600 per die, given the mintage, that's why I'm wondering.
I read there were 6 obverse dies and 7 reverse dies. I’ve had this pic of the group of 5 for awhile. I thought I had a pic of the 6 but can’t find it.
Thank you. Do you happen to know whether 6 dies for 1,193,000 coins seems right? I've no clue. I'm just wondering, again. I'm sort of a wonderer.
Great question. I only know from what I’ve read. All have said 5 or 6. Here is a link from a CT thread, started in 2009 and updated with map overlays of the 6 known dies in 2019. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/authentic-vs-counterfeit-1914-d-lincoln.76229/page-2
I just found this post from a 5 year old thread on the PCGS forum. It’s a photo from the Denver mint on die usage for the 1914 Lincoln. It shows 6 obverse and 7 reverse dies used.
Awesome, thank you very much! I see the 1,205,284 total and the per-die averages all around 200,000 more or less which correlates with what one would project from the 6 dies striking that many coins. Just awesome you were able to dig this page up. BTW, is that "Roger," a.k.a., RWB? Now I warned you I'm a wonderer.
I’m almost positive that’s the same Roger. i’m glad you wondered……..it made me do a little investigating.
To wrap this up, this is how we know the coin featured here is a counterfeit. With Mint records showing the die capacities were, give or take, 200,000, and a total minted of just over 1.2 million, for this coin featured to be from a 7th die we’d expect to see a Mint record of over 1.4 million minted. That’s why this coin is a counterfeit. We that is to say don’t have to speculate on how it was counterfeited, only that it doesn’t match the 6 obverse dies in the record. There’s, in effect, the significance of this record.
The 1914-D cent is one that is best bought graded. One of the guys at the coin meeting brought one in to question. I couldn't get a good enough picture to post but it looked pretty good. One Big Red flag for me was someone scratched a line across the 1914 date. This guy still bought this coin for $55. He bought it 20 years ago from a coin shot that he trusted and was talking about sending it in to get graded. I'd be curious to know the results.
