I could not see this without a lot of magnification. But what I think I see is an S. Would this be in the right location for the MM and size. It appears only, from what I see as a bit of a shadow. Any help!
You need to post another picture that is more in focus and lighter as it is too hard to really tell with the current picture! Frank
I tried to get another picture but just can't get the right lighting to show it. Guess I need to take it and let someone look at it.
I took about a hundred more photos just to get these two. The best I could do with the camera I have. Also took photos of the reverse. Its a little fuzzy too. Even as worn as it is it would be nice if it were what it apears to be. So worn though I just can't be sure.
Send it to ANACS as a 1909-S VDB....even if they don't think it is a S VDB they will still grade it...I heard that a guy got a 1909-S cent and later sent it to ANACS and it came back 1909-S VDB. Speedt
Hey Speedy....can you move this thread to the US Forum....might get a bit more exposure than in the error section
It looks wrong to me. The location, size and shape all seem incorrect, especially the shape. It is too tall and open at the top, a legitimate S would be shorter and more "boxy". Sorry, but I don't think it is authentic.
hmmm, you must have a different version of the Redbook than I have, mine only shows one of the Mintmark locations, but yours must show all four. Four different dies were used to make the 09SVDB's and each has an obviously different MM location. While I agree that this MM's location is no good, I don't believe that that information could have been gotten from the Redbook, unless your version shows all 4 possible MM locations.
I read somewhere that the mintmarks were hand struck on older coins so they varied in location and orientation. I may be wrong, I'll have to look into it. Although the mint mark and VDB are so weak would it really matter much?
The point is that it is NOT an 09 SVDB, the "S" is the wrong shape, size, and in the wrong location. And the VDB is in the wrong location to be real, weak or not. There are markers for the genuine article and this coin doesn't have them, unfortunately. vipergts2--you are right that the MM was hand stamped into each DIE, of which there were only 4 for the SVDB, so it is easy to compare the location of this MM to the 4 know authentic locations. This coin's "MM" fails that test since it is in a location that doesn't match any of the 4 possible genuine locations.
This to me looks like die #4. This is copied out of The Complete Lincoln Cent Encyclopeia by Shane M. Anderson. The S is lower than on the other two dies and is more below the "0" in "1909". The S is also vertical and the mintmark may appear to reside in a slight depression, with the left edge even with the edge of the "0". On the mating rverse die, the initals V.D.B. on the reverse may be faint, more so toward the bottom. On the "B" the bottom and center bars must slope downward diagonally to the left. This characteristic is common for all true VDB cents.
