I ran across this unusual coin on eBay. The seller describes it as an "art coin" "made out of an old Wheat back penny". This appears to be a 1922 Plain Lincoln Cent with the image of a man (facing left) added over Lincoln's image. (See photo below.) If the host coin is genuine someone has destroyed a very, very valuable coin. I am not prepared to say whether the host coin is genuine or not (because I am not extremely familiar with this unusual year of issue) but the details of the host coin appear to be sharper than I remember they should be for this coin. I also do not see the reverse die crack that runs through the 'O' of ONE that appears on one of the 3 reverse types used in 1922. At this point I am leaning toward fake or altered date. What I cannot figure out is - How was the image added to the coin? It was not carved (like a Hobo nickel) because metal has been added to the coin (most of the added image is higher than the original coin's surface). Or was this "coin" struck or cast with the added image? Whatever this is it is odd and interesting. I love a good mystery. Maybe we can solve this mystery.
It looks like some sort of fake, the obverse fits none of the diagnostics of any of the dies, but , what can you say, it's a pic and an altered something, so hard to tell. I do not think it is a genuine 22 Lincoln.... Cool find !!
I am thinking the image under the man, who I think might be JFK, may not even be Lincoln because the outline of Lincoln would not be as close to the 'we' in the logo as this one appears to be. Also, the area above where the Y in Liberty should be seems to have a design above and below that blank area, and you wouldn't have that on a Lincoln cent. By the way, what does the reverse look like? Have you measured and weighed the coin? Other than that, very interesting coin... and probably worth keeping as a curiousity piece. Oh my, I just had a thought, maybe someone carved it to remind them of JFK. If so, then the only connection to the 1922 date is that Kennedy died on the 22nd day of November. I guess there are a lot of reasons someone would have recarved a coin. jeankay
Aha, hadn't thought of it being George. Now another mystery... an american wanting to be a Canadian or a Canadian wanting to be an american? jeankay
It's George VI, whose profile is on all Canadian coins, including Small Cents, from 1937 to 1952 (and other commonwealth coins). My guess is that somehow a US cent got in among the blanks that were being struck at the Royal Canadian Mint, some time in that period.
From this angle it looks like a bad casting - note the bubbles in the portrait and field. Probably a mold made of a real cent, then the date and image of George were pressed into the mold before casting.
