199? Lincoln Penny

Interesting find. This penny still has most of its' luster but has some 'damage' that appears to have happened at the mint. From the 2:00 position to about the 5:30 position there is an area that almost looks scrapped and frosted, yet the rim of the coin is near perfect. The units digit in the year is gone completely, the tens digit has to be seen from an angle of about 45 degrees, otherwise it appears not to be there at all. The mint mark 'D' is filled (for the most part) with only a small area that is at the 'altitude' that it should be. The last picture shows an area that appears to have part of a 6, 8, 9, 0 or even a 5 (inside the red circle) which is very weak to the naked eye but can be seen with a 5X lens.

I'm interested in knowing how this might have happened. It appears to be a mint 'error' or 'damage' and not man made, yet I don't know how to classify it. Help invited.....

 

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struck thru grease or other,

It's struck thru grease or other debris. It's a nice one though. We see them fairly often but when they are mint state they look good like yours.
I have found them with no numbers, letters and very little head details also but not often in mint state.
It could be overpolishing but the guy who did it would have been fired that day.
Ben Peters

 

Thanks Ben. I have seen grease strikes before but never to this extent. It makes sense though, grease (oil) doesn't compress thus the power of hydraulics. This Mr Lincoln is now enveloped in mylar. Maybe he will keep his luster a few more years. Thanks again.

 

I thought Mint Marks were added after the Coin was intially stamped. Is this the case with late date Lincolns?

 

Prior to 1990, mintmarks were added to individual dies by hand.

1990 and later, the mintmarks are a part of the process from the design phase on through. So master hubs and master dies have the Mintmarks in place, so every working hub and working die has the mintmark in place without it having to be punched into anything

 

This coin may not have the grease on the date, but it look to me like it had as much grease. Look at the "LIBERTY" and the mint mark.

 

foundinrolls: Thanks for the info, I didn't until now know

I was thinking the Mint Stamp was incorporated in the Master Hub beginning in 2000.

 

The 1925 looks to me like a worn die.

 

Those are not noted for great strikes, but most of the problems with that one seems to be grease.

 

I have a Lincoln cent with 19 I can make out the 90 but to see it look at angle does anyone have an idea what I have