Hi everyone, I hope all is well. I found this penny among others in my Grandmother’s old saving box. I wanted to know if this is worth getting graded. The error is parts of the Lincoln building is being shown in the front and can you tell me what is name for this type of error Your opinion is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much
That's neat find! It's called a die clash. A die clash is when the obverse die (hammer) and reverse die (anvil) strike together without a planchet in between. I don't recommend sending it for grading/attribution because you'll pay more to grade it than the coin is worth.
Not an error, but an indication of die state progression. It's a very nice piece. Something to hold on to but not worth submitting for grading.
That's a cool die clash! It would likely grade MS-63 or 64 red, so it wouldn't be worth grading, but is still worth a few dollars.
The obverse and reverse dies came together at the mint without a blank planchet so the design was transferred from one die to the other. It’s a mint error known as a die clash as previously stated by a few members. It’s a Legitimate mint error but it’s not worth grading. You’d never recover the costs of grading.
NGC calls these a "mint error" but to me it's a variety, since lots of other coins would be identical. Morgan VAMs are considered varieties (right?) but many of them are just die clashes. The Franklin "Bugs Bunny" as well. Kind of a gray area I guess.
I think of them as errors because the mint certainly did not intend for them to look that way. They got that way by mistake. That's an error. The fact that all subsequent coins made with that die will look like that doesn't change it in my view. As for those Morgan VAMs caused by die clashes and Bugs Bunny halves, sure, they are errors, but if some want to call them varieties, well, it's a free country and they are welcome to their terminology. Compare it to paper currency printed with one plate upside down. Would that be an error? Yes, in my opinion, even though there may be hundreds of them printed and issued before it is discovered. Or look at stamps. The early "upside-down airplane" certainly was an error. So was the similar Dag Hammarskjöld stamp misprint, but not the millions they printed later intentionally with the same "error."
There is a proof 1990 Lincoln Cent that is lacking a mintmark that is rare and expensive, but many people think the business strike 1990 cents with out a mintmark are also rare and valuable. The lack of a mintmark on Lincoln Cent simply means it was struck in Philadelphia, the main mint. Before 1991, mintmarks were hand stamped into the die. Occasionally at a branch mint (Denver or San Fransico) they would forget to add the mintmark to the die therefore creating a error/variety. These mistakes are only detectable from regular Philadelphia coins in certain cases. In this case it is a proof coin, which in 1990, was only made in San Fransisco. This is the real deal: https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1990-1c-no-s-dcam/93506 Here's a list of coins from Philadelphia that do or do not have mintmarks: Cent) no mintmarks for any year except in 2017 to celebrate the 225th anniversary of the Philadelphia Mint. Nickel) 1938-1979, no mintmark. 1980-present, mintmark added. Dime) 1946-1979, no mintmark. 1980-present, mintmark added. Quarter) 1932-1979, no mintmark. 1980-present, mintmark added. Half Dollar) 1964-1979, no mintmark. 1980-present, mintmark added.
The silver issues 1942-45 have a large mintmark, including a P for Philadelphia, over the dome of Monticello. I recently overlooked these myself when giving the same information on another thread. Also, there are no P marks on any coins before your listed dates, going back to 1792.