Hello, Thank you for adding me. I am new to coin collecting. I am not sure what to make of this 1919 Lincoln Penny. Thoughts?
Welcome The date is just damaged. Almost 100 years of circulation. The Obverse are just normal planchet laminations or flaws. The Reverse maybe shows minute Die Chips. All fairly common with no premium. Especially with a damaged date.
Welcome Mogul. No that's not a penny from heaven. Keep hunting though you will eventually find something.
Pre-1982 cents were copper, a soft metal that deforms easily when struck. That is mostly what you are seeing. Never hesitate to ask.
One way to tell damage that is caused by contact is that the metal gets pushed up on the side that is away from the impact. Here you can see that something gouged the surface and pushed the metal to the lower left and lower right, creating ridges around the outside of the impact. Sometimes if there are not these ridges, the pit may be a result of metal not flowing fully into some small area of the die during striking. This is caused by the manufacturing process at the mint, and is considered different from PMD, which is Post Mint Damage. But often even uncirculated coins suffer dings and marks from banging around with other coins while being handled at the mint.
