1996 D Error ? I don't know if this this an error or not ?

Hi. I'm new to coin collecting and new to the site. I recently started collecting coin books for my grandchildren. ( I'm also a new grandma) While going through my coins, I noticed the date and lettering on this 1996 D coin look odd. The edges of numbers (date) and some letters are raised. While the centers of the numbers and letters are impressed. I have not seen this on the other 1996 coins I have ? I will post a photo that I took with my phone. Any info on this coin would be greatly appreciated, I'm new to coin collecting so Thanks For The Help .

 

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Kind of hard to tell from the pictures but it's probably just plating issues which are pretty common on cents. But welcome to CT and congratulations on the new grand baby.

 

You have a pretty good pic of the reverse (back of the coin), but the obverse (front) is too dark. From what I can see it looks like the digits are smashed.

 

Welcome to the neighborhood @Genia Barnfather !

Yes, we'd need better photos to be sure, but Lincoln cents produced since (part of) 1982 to the present are made primarily of zinc with a thin layer of copper. As @Blissskr said, they have been subject to plating issues.

Chris

 

Hi Blisskr. Thanks for the quick answer. I'm so new to coins and I'm very confused. I have three grandchildren. a 1 year old girl and new born twin boys. I started a coin collection for each, 3 sets of quarters, nickles, dimes, penny's. I had alot of coins saved so the books are filling quickly. I have been trying to look over the coins to check for errors before I put them in the books. (Very confusing ! ) If I do have error cois I would want to set them aside for the grand babies . I will try and take a better photo. I also think I found some wide AMS Do you know of any coin people in the Connecticut area ?

 

Hi Tom and Cpm. Yes, It looks like the digits of the date, mint mark and the word liberty are smashed in, but perfectly with a punch. The center is concave and the edges have a lip. The word Liberty, date, mint D, some of the letters of In God we Trust. and some of the words and letters on back of coin look the same. The coin does not look smashed overall, just the letters and digits. I attempted to take better photos, but I'm not sure how ?
Thanks
Genia