woodgrain penny

EDITED--No offers to buy/sell/trade please

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Super nice and welcome. I'm new here myself and having fun! :smile






USA Coin Album
by David W. Lange

San Francisco Mint Cents 1908-24

A professional numismatist has the privilege of seeing many more coins than the typical collector, including high-grade pieces that may be beyond his own collecting budget. While this may seem like a potential source of frustration, it’s actually a very rewarding and enlightening experience. Observations can be made over a period of years that simply aren’t possible when limited to one’s own collecting resources.

One thing I’ve noticed while examining uncirculated bronze coins produced by the San Francisco Mint from the onset of coinage there in 1908 through roughly 1924 is that they have some very distinctive features. These often enable one to identify them as ‘S’ Mint products before seeing the mintmark. Though the alloy used for United States cents was prescribed by law, there are peculiarities seemingly unique to cents made at San Francisco.

When entirely untoned, ‘S’ Mint bronze coins have a very pale, brassy color unlike that of the more reddish or coppery cents from the Philadelphia and Denver Mints. For the period described, however, ‘S’ Mint cents are seldom seen untoned. The only issues commonly encountered in that condition are the widely hoarded 1909-S cents, both with and without the designer’s initials "V.D.B." Subsequent dates through the mid-1920s are typically toned to various degrees, though many have survived with partial mint color.

Examples having just light toning often display a pattern of tan or light brown streaks across obverse and reverse, the so-called "woodgrain" pattern. This resulted from impurities in the alloy or concentrations of pure copper that did not properly blend with the 5% tin and zinc added to it. When these less-than-perfect ingots were rolled into strip, from which blanks would later be punched, the concentrations were flattened and stretched into the patterns seen on the finished coins. Invisible when first struck, these flaws appeared only after the coin was exposed to atmospheric agents that caused the copper concentrations to tone more quickly than the properly mixed portions of the planchet.

Woodgrain toning is commonly seen on ‘S’ Mint cents through 1923-24, after which time it is encountered only occasionally. Examination of the U. S. Mint Director’s annual reports for the period in question reveals that cent planchets were alternately made in-house (at the various mints) and purchased from outside vendors. After the mid-1920s, the U. S. Mint gradually phased out the production of both cent and nickel planchets in favor of ready-made ones, and this seems to have standardized the characteristics of planchets used at all the mint facilities.

Though most collectors favor bronze coins that are fully "red," I find this distinctive toning quite charming, and it further serves as an aid to authentication. I’ve never seen a 1909 cent from the Philadelphia Mint that was brassy and displayed woodgrain toning, so the presence of such distinctive features almost guarantees that a cent’s ‘S’ mintmark has not been added to a Philadelphia coin. This is true of both Indian and Lincoln cents.

As noted above, with the exception of 1909-S and 1909-S V.D.B. Lincolns, early ‘S’ cents are seldom seen with all their original color. Most have toned to brown or retain just partial mint red. One peculiarity I’ve noticed about all copper and bronze coins is that sharply struck pieces tend to tone down more readily than weakly struck ones. This is true regardless of date or mint, and I suspect that the relative degree of work-hardening experienced by the planchet determines its resistance to atmospheric toning. This phenomenon is not unique to ‘S’ Mint cents, but it is more critical with them due to their greater overall rarity. It extends even to the bronze one-centavo pieces made there between 1908-20 for use in the Philippine Islands. Having collected this series for years, I have almost never encountered a sharply struck coin having full mint color, while the well struck pieces I’ve owned were always brown or displayed light, woodgrain toning.

David W. Lange's column USA Coin Album appears monthly in Numismatist, the official publication of the American Numismatic Association.

 

blu62vette,

Welcome to Coin Talk! That is one awesome Woody! I have been both blessed and cursed to see lots and lots of beautiful and ugly Woodies over the years but by-far, your's is the best that I believe that I have ever seen. Thanks for sharing!


Frank

 

What a fabulous coin!!!

What a fabulous coin!!!
I've got some but not as nice as that one!!!
Good going,

 

That's what she..........oh I better not go there.
(Sorry, I just couldn't resist any longer):goofer:

 

You beat me to it.

 

They're like the Rodney Dangerfield's of Lincolns, Snaz, they never get no respect. :hammer: I've seen some truly breathtaking ones, just in these forums, and yet they still can't make the cut to 65. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen one that got a 65 or up.

Thanks for that explanation on the cause of the graining, BTW...I never knew that.

I think that's most of the reason, anyway. The imperfections, if any, tend to be obscured by the graininess. But, then again, they may be seeing imperfections that aren't really there, too...in effect, confusing that with the graininess. I do think they need to look at these much closer than they're accustomed to, to give them any kind of truly honest grade. It just doesn't make sense to me that none of these could ever make a 65 or up.

 

Looks like I need to dig out some toners for you...

Thanks for the comments on the woody, I dont own that one but the owner will speak up here soon enough.

 

I don't care for copper that much, but i would buy that in a heart beat. Amazing coin!!!

 

The penny lady? That is whee i have seen that before!

 

Actually it is mine, I recently purchased it off the CU BST because I wanted an example of a woodgrain. The picture very accurately portrays the coins and needless to say, I like it.

 

Congratulations! Don't let go of it. There are people looking for things like that.

 

I agree, I think it's a keeper.

 

And some folks say that I am a dirty old man????:whistle:

She's gone now and took most everything else but it!:bigeyes:


Frank

 

Also here is a IHC with a similar toning pattern though as far as I know these are not the true woodgrains.

 

I agree that it is not nearly as spectacular as the 1925-, but what make you say that it is not a true woodgrain? From what I can make out, the pattern goes all the way through the planchet. Is there something else inherent to Indians or earlier cents that would make them tone this way?

 

Rotten dogs:computer:

 

I really like how you displayed that coin, very nice!

 

Beautiful coin, and yes, it is a poor mixture of the planchet allow that causes this effect. But that is one beautiful coin Todd. I have some customers who search out this look for their coins, it looks like beautiful oak furniture to me, but sometimes when it is uneven like half the coin is streaky lighter than the other half, it is graded lower for the uneven toning, because it lowers the eye appeal of a coin. TPG's often give a higher grade due to great eye appeal, even though technically a coin should be graded lower. So if the woodgrain is not very attractive or is uneven, it could be graded lower. Any way, Todd's coin is a really pretty example of attractive woodgrain toning. And his photography skills aren't bad either!! ;-)