Can anyone help me out with this. Found it in my great-grandfather's stash and found it to be odd that it is a different color (goldih, though the picture doesn't really convey it) and it has a date stamp of 12-31-74 on it, though it's a 1977 coin. An info on what this is?
Welcome to CoinTalk and I am sure that someone will be along before to long to tell you all about this coin :thumb: De Orc
pghpunk, Welcome to the group. I am assuming by part of your name (pgh) we may share something or someplace in common. I am sure there will be a number of people that will comment on the coin. The first thing you may want to do is get the coin weighed (in grams). Compare that to the required weight of (3.11 grams) and you will know a little more than you did before posting. If it is the same weight then someone has added color and probably the counter stamp to the coin after leaving the mint. I don't have much experience so others can/will probably tell you more. Good Luck. Darryl
to CoinTalk. Coins are counterstamped for many reasons by many people for many reasons, but always after they leave the mint. We have members who tell of applying counterstamps and then using the coins to make purchases. While I don't quite grasp the idea behind such conduct, others do, and enjoy it. Other than being the date that a couple of new people joined one of the rock bands, and the date of a Nebraska Sugar Bowl win, Google doesn't turn up any great historical events for the date, but it meant a lot to whoever applied that post-mint counterstamp to your coin. The TV coin hucksters, among others, have been known to gold plate coins to "make them collectible" and artificially inflate the price people will pay (I won't use the term "value" in that context), and either that, or a high school chem lab experiment, may be responsible for your coin's color. Copper turns golden in color on contact with some chemicals and that type of tarnish is another possible cause.
I would agree that a date counterstamp would not have much of a premium over face, but there is always a chance someone may desire that cent. I know there are folks who collect counterstamps by year, so that may appeal to someone like that. It appears that a special stamp was produced, as the stamped date looks like it was done using one punch. That is more desirable than individual digits stamped into a coin. In days past, many tokens were made to appear golden, and the term for that is "gilt". I think that someone stamped a number of these (since a special punch was made). Since Roy did not find much of widespread importance relating to that date, my guess would be perhaps it was someone's birthday, or perhaps day of their wedding, although the last day of the year seems like an odd day for that to occur.
I'll add seemingly meaningless counterstamps to coin with the best of them, but you have me stumped on this one. It is either a prepared punch or at least an industrial punch with a frame or mount that allows for changes. In any case, I can not think of any special significance to that date. It obviously had significance to someone, but given the apparently limited audience, the fact that it wasn't merely hammered out one number at a time is a real mystery. As to why people stamp coins these days, it can be to promote a politcal viewpoint, to advertise something, or to get someone's name in the history books. For example, Google "Dr. G. G. Wilkins" and you will learn about a colorful character who left his mark on coins that are widely collected today. He has achieved immortality - not bad for a small investment and some light manual labor.
Sorry to wake up a thread 12 years later, but I had a customer bring in one counter-marked with the same date (on the stamp, penny dated 1975). Same Color too. Thought I would share.
