1909-S VDB Lincoln Wheat Cent Penny - Is it Real?

Details, sure, but is it real?

If it is it looks like it would be die pair #4

With the 10X on my camera I don't believe the die chip is present, but the sheriffs appear correct.

I'm undecided.

 

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I always look for the middle serif on the "B". Most of the fakes I have seen show that middle serif horizontal. The real deal has on odd downward turn like yours. I know there are more accurate diagnostics. That's the one I always turn to. I like what I see.

 

If that is a forgery, that's a dang good one.

 

Just from looking at it, my gut feeling is that it is real. I see no indication of altered date, added S, or added VDB. Alignment of both the mintmark and initials appear to be correct.

I see nothing alarming about this coin being altered or fake.

Probably grade VF details.

 

It looks O.K. to me. Just curious @Evan8 why do you say details?

 

I would, and do, consider EVERY ‘09 S VDB to be fake unless it is in a top tier TPG slab. The fakes coming out of China are simply TOO convincing and the stakes are too high to take a chance, no matter what the story offered with it is.

 

Looks like an old cleaning at some point that has retoned imo.

 

Good advice for a novice. Look at a few hundred thousand wheat cents, between pictures online and viewing them in hand and pretty soon the Chinese fakes stand out like sore thumbs.

 

Is there a known die break at the shoulder (in one of the 4 dies?)
Or whatever this is:

 

Good catch Michael.

I've sat down and looked closer at the mintmark and I may have to take back my earlier comment. The S is alarming. It's position is that of what appears to be position 3. But the lower serif is questionable. The serifs should be parallel but the lower serif isn't, it is slanted too much.

Going back to the die crack, I found a thread with a similar die crack that could be farther progressed than Op's. The example in this thread is a Philly example.
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/grade-my-1909-vdb-lincoln-cent.306238/

Hard for me to say, but this mintmark very well could have been added.

 

I'm not sure on the die crack. You are right about it being die 3 and not die 4.

I used the pictures from NGC's website and aligned them up and this is what I got. Die 3 is close, but not exact. Might just be the picture angles?


Die 3


Die 4

 

I'm a little concerned with the "N" in United and the dot after the V in VDB. It is suspicious to me.

 

Doesn't overlay for me