1968 dime sized penny, Mint Error?

I hate to disagree, Tom, but damage does make sense, at least if willing to consider what I said regarding the countless ways it can occur. Case in point: have you ever seen what some call a "Texas Cent", which is basically a cent with full normal detail but larger than normal? It may not make much sense on the surface that this could be damage, at least until it is explained that beating the coin between two pieces of thick leather can accomplish it.

Still, I certainly congratulate you for exploring all options and for trying to do your homework. Unfortunately, this cannot be said for many new to the forum. Keep it up and I hope you'll figure out an explanation that you can live with.

A belated welcome to the forum.

 

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It's not a dime planchet, Tom. There's no disputing this one.

 

I certainly appreciate the help. I know plenty of people have a hard time accepting that a coin they thought was worth something isn't. All I know is that this is a dime with penny outsides. So, you think someone personally put a penny around a dime? Thanks for the welcoming.

 

I am well aware that damage happens to coins in 100's of ways. I've gone through thousands of dollars of coins in the past few months. I'm simply saying, this damage doesn't make sense. I can't think of any way PMD damage created a dime in between a penny. Either way, I appreciate the help and will let you know when I have a weight and a better picture.

 

You can think all you want.. That's a damaged Cent. I have been collecting Mint Errors for 31 years and I know that is not a Mint Error. Send it to a professional attribution service such as NGC or PCGS and they will tell you the same.

 

As others have said, this coin was damaged/altered outside the Mint.

 

I hope you do not take this the wrong way and I'm not saying this just because the others are. But after seeing the photos of the edge, I am comfortable with some kind of damage. As far as seeing a dime sandwiched in there, looks can be very deceiving. I do not think any of us could possibly tell you how this happened but there are many people who get a big jolt out of doing these kind of things and it's a shame. Because it tends to start arguments that can never be resolved and hurt feelings when everyone concurs it's the same thing. You did do a good job in your presentation. If you are still convinced your best bet would be to send to Fred Weinberg just for your peace of mind. He is one of the foremost error experts in the U.S. and he will tell you no lies.

 

Absolutely not and I've already stated as much.

Tom, you're trying to prove what you want or think you see as opposed to using only what's there to tell the story. Thus far the only thing that has any connection to a dime is the size and is something easily achieved.

Perhaps take a step back and rethink your approach here. Every one of us at one time or another has thought we found something that turned out to be nothing, and anyone claiming otherwise is lying. It's perfectly normal and is part of the learning experience, but must be considered such to be of any future use.

Are you familiar with the basic concept behind Occam's Razor? If so, simply ask yourself what's more likely: that somehow a dime was magically encased inside a cent before striking, or that a perfectly normal cent was damaged in one of the aforementioned countless ways and is confusing to someone newer to the hobby.

 

There is just no way a dime could be sandwiched between two cent faces, just not possible. It is just damaged, you can even see the grind or file marks on the edge. It is not reeding from a dime, just grind marks. It may have been encased or in some kind of bezel at some time.

 

I never assumed there was no damage and I am not taking anything the wrong way, but I appreciate the concern. I'll give Mr. Weinberg a shot if I can figure out how. As far as "looks can be deceiving", I've had this penny for months and have looked at it under several different lights and magnifiers and came to the same conclusion that there are silver colored ridges in the middle of the penny. I could accept it was altered after mint but how? And why? (Rehtoricaly since you already said you don't know). Anyways, I certainly appreciate the input and will be asking y'all for opinion on other coins. Hopefully my push back on vague answers didn't come off too defensive. I want to make cointalk friends not enemies. Much love brother .

 

I'm not near as invested in this coin as you think I am. My point was. it doesn't make sense for the coin to be altered this way just as much as it doesn't make sense that it would be a mint error. I just figured I could get an answer as to WHY it is this way but it was a little much to ask. I know coins get damaged and altered. It doesn't explain why this one looks the way it does. I do appreciate the input though and would like your opinion in the future. I have more interesting finds I would like folks to give an opinion on. Thanks again for the input buddy.

 

Is there a reason, if it was chipped or grinded down, that you can still clearly read "In God We Trust" and the Lincoln shoulder continues over the damaged edge? That shouldn't be there if it's PMD correct?

 

I don't assume you to be invested, but I do feel you're asking for too much. Again, with tens of billions of cents minted and with infinite opportunities for each to be damaged in near infinite ways, nailing down an exact cause is often more of an art than a science. The obverse is in ways somewhat reminiscent of a cent that has been encased (think "lucky penny" type things) and perhaps it was albeit in a somewhat different manner than usual. Single coins can also show numerous forms of damage, so it's often isn't as cut and dry as we'd like. This is also why we usually go back to the minting process for our answers.

That said, I do appreciate the fact you're taking this in a more constructive manner than many have. Kudos for that, and please do post your other coins in the future.

 

Actually if it was pressed into an encasement that is exactly how it would look. It really couldn't be struck by dies that way. The die being flat, it would not impress the image down the beveled edge. The fact that the image does continue down the beveled edge is evidence that it is damaged.

 

PMD, not a cent struck on a clad dime planchet which would have a copper core and not silver color. And the outside would be dime colored, and it's
clearly a cent color.

 

Looks like someone wanted to be cheap and grinded down a penny to dime size. VERY easy to do with a lathe and a rasp file. Then tried to squish some it but failed.

 

The rim doesn't even come close to the same look as a clad coin. Not only that but an error expert already answered your thread. He also said that it was nothing but a damaged cent.
No need to apologize, we have folks come here all the time thinking that they know everything.