1956-D Lincoln D/S ??

To answer Kangayou's question about mint mark placement...

Prior to 1990 or so, mint marks were indeed punched into dies by hand and the placement could vary. Not only could mint marks be in the field under the date but in the case of a 1985 P dime die variety, it is thought possible that a P mint mark is visible on the neck of Roosevelt. It is not confirmed but there is strong evidence that the mark is indeed a P that was punched way out of position.

One we got to 1990, on most US coins, the mint mark was placed on the master hubs as a design detail and they are from that time on consistent in size, shape and position.

This still doesn't make an unusual mark an errant mint mark as an errant mark still has to perfectly match the mint marks used on coins of a particular year. We can even identify particular mint mark punches used to add mint marks to particular dies for particular years. It is more of a science than guesswork than many people realize.

Thanks,
Bill

 

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:bow:

 

Maybe he was , so I spent some time fleshing out another reason why the mark on the coin is not an S. maybe it will be helpful (oops, there's another one of those smiley faces

Have Fun,
Bill

 

Sorry got a chuckle out of it....

 

Bill,

Thanks again.

Since I mostly search heavily circulated coins , I have discovered the usefulness of investigating the sizes & shapes of the various MM's that were used during specific years at Variety Vista.

http://www.varietyvista.com/Mintmark%20Styles.htm

I know that they can end up looking slightly different depending on whether there is an early or late die state.
It can sometimes help me see an anomaly more quickly than my minds eye wants to see.

I think this particular coin was difficult for me since there weren't supposed to be any "S" mints for this year anyway.

 

Smiley faces? I see it now. LOL, I've seen all kinds of these. I need to look closer:bigeyes:. :hammer:
:hatch: :smile:smile:smile

 

Rockdude~ Monkey see, Monkey do...:mouth: