Okay so after my little bit of research on variety vista I think I may have a winner. The scratches southeast to northwest behind the date also match the coin on their site. Let me know what you guys think. It does look like a worn die but seems to match the reference in all places. more photos coming behind this
That's your image. And here is an image from variety vista. As you can see the E in one, there is no split serifs
You know what that's the second time you said that and it's finally clicking in my brain that I gotta look at that! Thanks lol
That is THE key die marker on coins that had hand punched mint marks. Die markers come and go throughout the die's life (die stages), however the mint mark placement will always remain constant. The only exception is if the coin is a DDR and later on the obverse die was changed. A good example of this situation is 1968D-DDR-001. Stage C on Variety Vista (VV) has a new obverse die. Notice the mint mark of Stage C is in a different location from Stages A & B. http://varietyvista.com/01b LC Doubled Dies Vol 2/1968DDDR001.htm The example I own is a Stage C. Both of Coppercoins stages are from the first obverse die, even the Late Die State images (LDS). http://www.coppercoins.com/diesearch.php So if you had a VV Stage C & checked Coppercoins, the mint mark placement wouldn't match, even though it's the same DDR. Wexler's is the same, but as you can see, he doesn't have an image of the date & MM. I love Wexler's site, but that's the only bad thing I can say about it. There are a lot of older doubled dies listed without an image of the date & MM. On heavily circulated coins where all markers are wiped out, that MM placement could confirm or prove it isn't the doubled die you are looking at. http://doubleddie.com/814660.html I was studying my 1968D-DDR-001 last night while entering it into my variety spreadsheet. That's the only reason I could just pull that example out, lol. Just keep this in mind and use all references handy. This has nothing to do with the MM placement, but another example I have run into where a die change happens mid-run is 1925S-RPM-001. The reverse is changed at Stage E: http://varietyvista.com/02a LC RPMs Vol 1/1925SRPM001.htm
I have been told about the mint mark several times and I thought I lined them both up directly above the 9. Mm should be the very first thing l look at from now on. Thanks guys.
It's only a tad off. A tad high and a tad right. Remember though, it only works for hand punched MMs. The mint stopped after 1989 on cents, dimes, and quarters I know. Not 100% positive on nickels, but I read somewhere that 1985 was the last year for nickels. But for sure, 1990 and up, the MM was on the galvano before the dies and hubs were created.
