I have a Unc. 1934 D Lincoln with a sunken MM similar to this coin, ( my son borrowed my camera, so I don't have pics of my coin ). My question is, does this affect value or collectibility. It's a very nice coin but your eye is drawn to the MM. What would a grader say? Your feelings?
Hmmmm, that coin bothers me. First there is the possibility that the MM was added. Yeh, there's also the possibility that the person who added the MM to the die got over aggressive and punched too hard. I've see that, just not to this extent. But the other disturbing (to me) aspect of that coin is that the fields around the devices seem to slope up!!! What I'm seeing is most evident at the "19" and "LIBERTY". Again there's the possibility that this was caused at the Mint. A die clash, then an over zealous Mint employee working too hard to remove the marks. Could this also explain the MM? Repunched after almost being removed? Anyway, I'm not comfortable with the coin.
The planchet could have been a little thin or off in weight The planchet could have been a little thin or off in weight and when struck buckled a bit - I have seen them like this.
I've seen lots of early 1980's quarters with this same mintmark effect too. Most of them suffer from horrible strikes as well. In order for the mintmark area on a coin to be recessed, the die has to have a raised portion. Which seams to mean the master from which the die was pressed would be recessed too. Too much polishing somewhere up the chain. Rick L.
