Hello - new to the forum and trying to determine is my penny is rare or valuable. This is a Canadian Centennial penny (1967) that looks to have a minting error. The side with the bird on it is fine, but on the back side theresta copper lump and you can see, very lightly, the imprint of the words that surround the exge. It seems to be miss struck, but I know nothing about error coins and can't find anything like this online. I did find a post on here from 2010 where a guy describes finding a Canadian dime and his description sounds a lot like what I have going on with this penny. If anyone here can provide any info, or suggest where I can dins some info about this, I'd greatly appreciate it.
First, welcome to the neighborhood! I'm pretty sure that it is post-mint damage (PMD), but it would help if you could provide a better close-up of the coin. May I suggest that after you take the photo, you should crop out the extraneous background, then resize the image. Chris
Thank you. And that's a good idea. The coin is at my father's house, so I won't be able to get another photo right away, but in the meantime, I did crop the ones I have to make them easier to view at least.
I have that penny in my Canadian collection. I can see the faint writing and the outline of the bust, but what that lump in the middle is, I have no idea. I have never seen anything like that on any coin before. After a few of the "resident experts" look it over, a consensus will develop as to its probable explanation. Thanks for posting such a new and quizzical question. And, of course, Welcome to Coin World !!
Thank you. Yes, the coin is certainly a mystery to me. But as I mentioned above, someone described a Bluenose dime that seemed to have a similar lump. Unfortunately the poster never included any photos (it was a post from 2010). I would have liked to have seen that, and the date on the dime. Weird that the only info I've been able to find on something similar is another Canadian coin. If these are not mint defects, I wonder if the same Canadian person did something to both coins. What would be the chances that this was the case, and that both owners ending up posting in this community eight years apart!?
I think it was pressed or squeezed. Measure it to see if it's out of round. The diameter should be 19.05mm. The "pattern" on the obverse looks like it was pressed in. Is the coin thin? If was pressed against something soft (wood, thick cloth etc), it could explain the lack of deformation on the reverse. In any case, I can't think of any scenario that would leave a mark like on a newly minted cent. It couldn't have left the mint like that, so we can just speculate as to what caused the PMD
I will check the coin when I'm back at Dad's early next week, but from memory it looked exactly like every other Centennial penny he had there. I don't recall any deformation or it appearing thin, but I was just going by eye. Dad has a micrometer so I'll get him to check the size. He also has a scale that can accurately weigh this so I'll get the weight too.
So I called Dad and had him measure and weigh the penny (and didn't tell him what numbers to expect). He says the penny weighs 3.09 g and measures 19.06 mm. Those measurements are virtually identical to an undamaged Centennial penny he has that he used to compare. He said looking at both, the damaged one seems a little bit thinner (but obviously not where the lump is). I'm not sure, but based on what I've been reading this suggests no metal was added or removed. It was also mentioned that it wouldn't make it out of the mint like this, but if that's the case, how do other error coins make it into circulation? I mean, some of the errors are glaringly obvious.
It couldn't have left the mint, because it couldn't be made by the mint. A die wouldn't be able to produce the area of raised metal without having a circular hole in it. A broken die would not produce a slightly tapered, circular hole. It is hardened steel and would crack/shatter. And something would also have to be impressed into the die to form the texture/pattern on the obverse. It's equivalent to a Ford coming off the assembly line with a GM Engine. Can't happen. Somebody did some very interesting damage to your coin, that you can't explain, but if you study the minting and die making processes, you'll understand it can't be done at the mint. Washer strike through? No. The design is visible and there is no design on the hole. Shattered die? No (explained above). A mint employee drilling a hole in a die? No. If you really think you have something, then you need to come up with a plausible theory on how this could made at the mint, not trying to explain how it was made outside the mint (there are too many ways for people to mess with coins). All of those funky errors like the 1970S quarter struck on a 1941 Canadian quarter, or the crazy multiple planchet capped dies, or even the quarter/Sacagawea dollar mule can be explained with the normal minting processes. This coin? No.
As I have already stated, I have no idea on this. Also as I stated, as more experts such as hoopster weigh in with more conjecture, a possible explanation may arise.
Thanks for the replies guys. I was assuming that by saying it wouldn't come from the mint like this it was meant the mint would catch it before it was released. Now I understand it to mean this kind of damage could not happen during the process of making coins (the minting pricess). Got it.
