I am new to the forum but certainly glad that I found it. I was wondering if I could get some opinions about a penny I found. The front side except for Lincoln is extremely lightly stamped or not even there. The front side does appear to be off center. I am unsure of the exact coin date. In certain lights it looks like maybe a 1990 and others it appears to me anyway that it may be a 1999 or 1997. I included a couple of shots with extra light just so things would show up. Although the coin is almost unreadable in some areas, there is no sign of extreme wear that would of affecting the visibility of the text. The back does have some scuff marks. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you for your time. My first post so I do apologize if I posted the images wrong.
The Obverse (front of the Cent) was probably what is called Struck Through Grease. This is when build up of debris gets into the incused letters and numerals on the Die that is used to strike the Cent. The Reverse side (back of the Cent) has a bit of Misaligned Die Strike and also the Obverse.
Thanks for the reply. So it is something that is common and isn't something to really hang on to? I appreciate your help and response.
Welcome to CT!!! I believe your coin is a 1990. The reverse shows a WAM (Wide AM) if it were a '97 or '99 it would be a CAM (Close AM)
In the photos that you first posted, the obverse (Front) was a different color that the reverse. are they both copper colored?
It was the background lighting. I am sorry about that. I used some extra lighting just to try to get the letters and number to appear best as possible. Other than Lincoln, the rest of the text on the obverse side is extremely light. But both sides are cooper colored.
