I'm not real educated on dropped letters/numbers. As for this one the "5" is recessed in the planchet. As for what I can find and read this would fit the description of a dropped. Any help or comments would be appreciated. If possible a description of how this happens would also be great. Thanks, Mark
I don't believe its a 5, but does resemble a 5. Looks to be struck thru something though. The struck thru area seems to be quite deep for a dropped digit. Could be wrong though. Nice find.
It doesn't look like a dropped element. It is probably a strikethrough like abe said. A dropped element occurs when grease and debris fill up an incused element of the die. It is compacted and becomes very hard from continually striking planchets. Eventually, it may fall out onto the face of a planchet, and when the die strikes that planchet, the dropped element is impressed into it. Sometimes, the dropped element will remain totally impressed into the coin just like a retained strikethrough, and other times it will fall out after the coin has been ejected from the coining chamber. Chris
I agree it is not a dropped letter.when they were striking Wheat's as with all coins they come out very hot and a little soft till they cool down and will attach a detail like your 1956-D on area that they land on. Or it maybe struck thur something a lot of times a photo will not show what you see with a lop
Since it's on the highest part of Lincoln's coat, and since it doesn't conform to the topography of the design, it's almost certainly a contact mark from the obverse of another cent. In other words, not an error.
The most simple diagnostic that proves this is not a dropped letter is the fact that there is not a corresponding letter of that size and form on the coin face. In order to have a dropped letter you need a letter in the die to become filled with debris and then drop on to the face of the coin. Since there is no "S" on the lincoln cent of that size and with that type serif it cannot be a dropped letter. It may be a struck through or could also be something that was done post mint, I can't tell from the photos which it would be. Richard
