I don't collect Lincoln cents, but how can you use the position of the mintmark as a diagnostic when it was placed on the die by hand until 1990 or so? Chris
Because it just happens to be true that no "high or tight S" small dates are known. It is the rarer piece, and not all that many dies were involved. Spirityoda's diagnostic is key, the one in post #3. That plus, on nearly every small date 1970-S, the word "LIBERTY" is soft as heck, especially on top of the word. Makes my NGC MS66RD pieces look real purdy.
That I do not know. What I do know is that the ratio of large to small based on dies is even larger than the ratio of the coins. The small date dies were beaten to death. Perhaps they didn't break at the large date rate. All of MY small dates seem to be from the same obverse die, but I've looked at coins that seem to indicate at least one other one. I'm still looking, because only one or two doesn't smell right to me. I found four small dates in one 1970-S roll, all from one die, and among the 46 large dates in the roll, there were at least 8-10 identifiable dies present. Strange story on this coin.
According to The Official Blue Book of United States Coins the key is where the 7 sits in relation to the other numbers. On A small date, the numbers align at the top. On a large date, the 7 is low in the date as indicated in post #3. A small date is worth 100 times more than a large date. So best to a bit more research so you can decide what it is you have.
You a right based on what I can see on the photo which is not the best. It looks from the photo that the 7 sits low and LIBERTY appears to be strong which indicates it is not the small date variety. A better close up that is in focus of the date and also the LIBERTY would have helped. I was only saying that he has the coin and he is in a better position to determine what he has, not us from a fuzzy photo. Hopefully we can stop posting to this thread. Pease out.
Sorry that I don't have high-tech photo equipment... I feel like I did as well as I could to give you a good chance of judgement. Your picture taking skills aren't a real prize either, taking from your profile pic. Tip, don't criticize if you aren't any better at something than the person you are criticizing. Pease out .
I believe the photograph was at least good enough for its intended use, and that's all I ever ask of photos. I know that CT has a strong vein of "photographic coin porn" in its history. I'm not a fan of it, personally. That's the business of auction catalog printers.
Good information people. let me ask you something, so no other 1970 cents whether d or Philadelphia aren't worth squat just the 70s?
The small date was only found on the S mint cents. There are plenty of other variety's for the P and D.
