Edge strike in the center of the penny

I found this 1993 Lincoln Penny coin roll hunting today. It appears to be the edge of a penny struck in the middle of the penny. I am new to coin roll hunting and errors so I cant tell if this is plausible or not. It sure looks like a penny edge struck in the center of the coin. The radius appears to be correct. Has anyone seen an error like this before?

 

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It's certainly interesting and I don't know much about it. Wait for an expert opinion.
I would guess that someone did that post mint, because if it came out of the mint like that and was double struck, there would be other details on the coin. But I really don't know. First, post good clear photos of both sides of the whole coin. So someone can help you.

 

Good advice--Thank you--here are both sides as clear as I can get them--far away and up close. The "edge" seems to go over and under some of the hair when it gets past the ear but I am not an expert so I really cant tell--I also think I found a 2000 Large AM today so I may be hallucinating. .

 

All I can say is that is strange for sure!

 

I've never seen anything like it so I'm guessing here that a portion of the rim of another coin broke off and was "struck though" on the next coin. @Fred Weinberg

 

That is a possibility...It would have been "pressed" into the next coin--so what do I do next?

 

Ask Paddyman, he might have an idea. It's certainly interesting and different.

 

I spent some time looking at it with a low power lens--although it looks 3D like it comes out of the coin in the higher power pictures - it is actually indented into the coin--may just be a scratch--ill try to get some better pictures with side lighting

 

OK--I played with the lighting and was able to get the light so that it can be seen a little easier that this is an indention in the Penny. I checked and it matches the radius of a penny. It also does not show linear features that a scratch would have. In fact, if you look closely there is a small rolled edge as well as a slight roll to the bottom of the depression [So I believe its a pressing and not a scratch]. Also the surface texture and aging inside the depression matches the penny pretty well. If I wanted to replicate this I would take another penny and lay it on this one then hit it with a hammer but I am not sure I could replicate anything like this, especially since it appears to go over/under the features on the penny above the ear. At this point I am guessing that something happened during the pressing of the penny like a scrap of another penny in the die. I dont understand the die process at the mint so I am not sure that an error like this is possible. Is there an expert somewhere that I could send this to for expert forensic analysis? Thanks to everyone for your comments and help.

 

I'm leaning towards PMD for the following reasons.
* It has a wider indented "band".
* I can't see how a strike through would cause a fissure, or split in the copper
* The OP said their appears to be a rolled edge. anything raised would be flattened during the striking process. But PMD from a cut might explain it
* Anything thin enough to make the cut or groove on a strike through would have been flattened, not pressed deeply into the coin.
* I don't think it was a planchet defect because metal flow during the striking process would not leave a nice clean, curved line.

Those are just my thoughts and open for discussion. The fact that there aren't a lot of responses may indicate that people aren't sure. I think that this is the type of coin that needs to be evaluated "in hand" for an accurate assessment, but when all is said and done, it's likely PMD. My primary reason is that I can't point out anything that in the minting process that would make something like this.

 

Not an errors guy. But Danny rationalize in my mind how this could occur. I will say that with all the dryer coins, lawnmower coins and whatnot. I would say this one likely bears a little closer scrutiny. Nice catch!

 

Looks to me like an incomplete clip in the manufacture of the blank.

 

I am going with post mint damage. The raised edge on the left side of the arc is a pretty solid indicator that something made that mark after the coin was struck. A struck though error would only create depressions, not raised features.

I think somehow another cent got mashed against your coin.

Matt

 

I'm an "ancients guy" and really not all that well-informed about the sorts of things that can go wrong inside modern minting apparatus which can spit out freshly-minted coins faster than spent shells ejecting from a chain-gun. However, a feature of the hand-struck coins with which we deal is that we see all sorts of things that could happen when the task wasn't mechanized, including strike-throughs with all sorts of debris, all manner of die breaks and cracks, plugged letters and/or parts of the dievices, die clashes, brockages and chain-strikes, etc. I'm not 100% certain here, but it appears as though there is part of an organized pattern impressed in what should be the surface "tops" of the raised features on the reverse - note . I'm wondering if this could be put down to die-clashing. We know there was "something" floating around between the dies which was able to be pressed into the obverse without being retained - and I'm not certain if that can be related to the faint image in the surface of the reverse. The only other thing I can think of is a multiple strike in which part of the collar which usually keeps the edges from spreading too far broke off (or failed to seat in its proper positition) - not sure if the collars here are multi-part and moved in from the sides during the strike or whether the collar is circular and normally recessed in the die but is extended in the moment between the blank being deposited and the top die coming down. Perhaps the coin wasn't completely cleared from the dies after striking and caught the edge of the collar as it tried to come in for the strike of the next blank. Or possibly a bit of the collar broke off in the original strike and in a "second strike" event caused by the chip of die-edge or collar interfering with the function that normally clears the freshly struck coin and deposits the next blank to be struck, this struck cent did not leave the dies until they had come together a second time and re-opened.
It's certainly not clearly matching anything I've ever seen on ancient or modern coins before.

 

I am almost afraid to show you all the other coins I found in these rolls. I am pretty sure I found a 2000 Wide AM..I found a few wheat cents and one Indian Head (1898) in poor condition--I understand none of these are especially rare but I found another penny with a thin arc across the center--looked at first like an oxidation line where 2 pennies had been stuck together but a close look shows it to look like a crack in the blank. I really appreciate the help I have gotten from everyone. I am one of those "old" guys that used to collect coins when I was a kid in the 50's-60's. I just got back into it as I prepare to retire--so far its been allot of fun but if i am going to make enough off of this to retire you guys are going to have to stop saying PMD!!! LOL-Thanks again

 

IDK how much of a premium there is for the 2000. A keeper for sure but:
1. 1992 Close AM - extremely rare
2. 1992 D Close AM
3. 1998 S Close AM
4. 1999 S Close AM
5. 1999 Wide AM
6. 1998 Wide AM
7. 2000 Wide AM - least rare

 

This is clearly post-strike damage as the reverse is damaged along a similar arc.

 

Once in a while, whilst bored. One may use hole punches on certain round things like coins. While it’s nothing that I would ever do .. err ... I’m sure there are people like that out there.

This dime has a slight offset punch hit
I found it that way ... I swear but I've seen a bunch of pennies with deep cuts in them ...


btw, there are various types of punches like this such as a short thin edge with supporting flat area, etc.

 

Hmmm....I guess I am not surprised that someone would do that. If I had better magnification I might be able to see the bottom of the valley better--it looks wider than a punch would make--those are made sharp on the ends on purpose ---and the bottom has no scratches and it is aged about the same as the penny itself--in fact its inside surface is just like the penny--it could have been done soon after the penny was minted by someone but why not keep it? I have received allot of good ideas --thanks allot

 

LEAST RARE--does that mean I cant retire yet?