1981 S Proof Set Cent Worst Proof coin I have seen. This is from my 6 coin 1981 S Proof Set. It is the One Cent. My question to collectors is: are all 1981 S Proof Sets with Cents in this condition? The Cent pictured has poor detail. Lincoln is missing the lower part of his eye. The folds in his coat and bow tie show little detail. The VDB is all but missing. On the reverse the memorial steps are missing. The columns have no flutes. The architrave is almost without detail. This also looks like a filled S for 1981. The memorial looks like it has a slight double die. The reverse photo accentuates it. I have checked this cent against other yearly proof sets and have seen nothing like it for a US Mint proof coin. Will readers take a look at your 1981 S Proof Cents and compare? Was this the typical quality of the 1981 S Cent Proof in 6 coin sets? Please let me know.
It is not really typical but there are others to be found. The sets of the '40s thru '80s were often lacking in quality. It was only in the '90s that things really began to improve in regard to quality being fairly consistent.
Oh, man...have I got you beat. I'm not much for one-upsmanship, but in this case, I have to brag. I've got the worst proof cent you've ever seen. Lemme grab my camera.
It's a lovely deep cameo coin. Last week I bid on an eBay lot of proof sets, and in the list it said 1984 - BAD. Well, I didn't know how bad, but I found out!!! The inner liner was all moldy. The coins were mostly okay, except for this one. I decided to bust the set up to save the other coins, and I kept this little marvel. Behold!
Yeah, right. It's an SGS special. Man, not even they could give this thing an MS-70. It would be funny, though.
reply to Borgovan Thanks Borgovan. It is indeed crummy. but even before your 1984 corroded, it had some nice detail. your new thread on worst coins should take off. Will you take a look at your 1981 S Cent Proof and let me know?
The cents in my 1981 proof sets are beautiful!!! I don't typically buy low-quality sets. If I do, it's at a significant discount, and I then sell them at a significant discount.
Really true. Many, many coins in the 80's appear as Mint errors but are actually just poor workmanship.
They come good and bad like everything else. These era coins come good and bad like cars, houses, guns and pets. Really though there were many problems during this time period and unfortunately we have seen sets like this often. You can easily find them nice and they are not (right now) expensive at all. Any coin show you can search for a nice one and acquire it. From about 1989 forward they are much improved and do not seem to have such problems. On your Lincoln the only thing that can be done is "can it" - it will never get any better Hope this helps, Ben
Believe me, when I was cracking that set, there were frequent handwashings, and I kept the thing away from my face. If I sell the cent (for two cents), and mail it, do I have to put biohazard labels on the envelope?
