Has anyone ever seen anything like this 1964 Lincoln Cent? I guess it could have been severely corroded and then cleaned off.
Yea, I'm aware of that. Seems like it has some small questionable things though.. that's why I asked around and took some closer pictures. It's still 3.1 grams even though there's alot of corrosion and that Canyon on the reverse near the left bottom under ONE CENT isn't normal for that year.
It was an overused obverse die in the first place . Notice the Lettering is cramped right up to the edge. This is "die deterioration" , with the die being pushed outward after millions of strikes. I think your "canyon" on the other side of the die had to move with it, and since it is copper and being stretched, weak areas could have that damage. No value over face, IMO Jim
Die deterioration is not mint error. It is just very poor quality control or overuse of a die or die set.
BTW, the 1964 cents, which were continued into 1965 to mint them (most coins generally only get minted in the year that it is issued in or dated with) is a huuuuuuuuuuge run of coins. In the billions. Not only was there a huge run of coins, but because of previous coin shortages, the mint was determined to flood the country with coins. And then there was the issue of allowing the next year to continue the production of the 1964 coins for general circulation. Lastly, the mint was also determined to try to stop coin collectors from 'causing' the coin shortage and to do so, they began a few years of really poor dies, etc. Starting to collect coins in the years between about 1963 and 1972 was pitiful for strike in so many cases. But bad quality is not 'error'. It was somewhat deliberate.
Oh heavens no! Not in the least. Some years they produce more coins with worn out dies than they do sharp looking ones.
Maybe I will have a t-shirt made " I died of Deterioration "and down below " Due to Die Deterioration" on it. Jim
