I came across this penny in my dad's collection and wonder what would cause the "4" in the date to be so deformed. Thoughts? BTW- I am new here, please be gentle.
that is very common damage and happens on many dates. it is caused by the fingers of a roll crimping machine
Good info. I didn't think "damage" because it is isolated to the legend. Nothing on the rim, nor on the field surface. Thanks for the help
A 1964 is copper and copper is a soft metal. The 4 took a hit on the lower right side and that hit moved the raised metal, the 4, to where you currently see it. It’s known as PMD or post mint damage. Welcome to CT.
As noted by our fellow enthusiasts, it is damage. If you coin roll hunt you will see this but not generally as clean. I suspect that the ‘hard’ object to burnish the material hovered slightly above the field and why you aren’t seeing damage there. Welcome to CT!
It's theorized these are caused by the mechanism that crimps the ends of the rolls as these coins are fitted in the rolls, so, e.g., they're rolling machine damage. How that theory explains why only the last digit is singled out for the damage is a little puzzling, I have to say...
Yes, I was looking for one of those pictures. I think that solves it, if you look at how the circle is going through that last digit. It would explain the angles of the damage, also, why the last digits are all slanted the same.
Well, if the part of the machine making contact with the coin is starting from the outer edge, I guess it makes sense that the outermost digit is the one that gets hit first. Those photos were very illustrative. I didn't know this was that common an occurrence.
here's something obscure .. take a look at the Coin Cellophane Machine Sealer issues ==> https://www.cointalk.com/threads/wonder-what-caused-this.389797/
We're not detectives, we only know the minting process, but that's enough to say that's post-mint damage.