I recently got a 2003-S Lincoln Cent. When viewed directly the 3 is not visible but all other features stand out in cameo. When viewed from a slight angle with side-lighting, the 3 is visible. Straight on however you'd swear the 3 was not even there. Anyone ever heard of this? It's like the 3 on the die was clogged. Does this increase or decrease the value of the coin? I'm thinking it's a dog. Interesting to look at though.
Yes it is known - a filled die error. It was talked about a good deal when it was first noticed but then the notoriety just sort of faded away.
I fell for the hype...and it was just that...hype. I couldn't imagine why the mint would release such lousy strikes of the year 2003 where the 3 was so filled, that when you looked at it dead-on. it would literally disappear. Well I hoped the top graders would recognize this, but they didn't and hence this hype died very quickly.
The 3 isn't really filled in, the digit is not as frosted as the rest of the devices so when the light scatters on the rest of the digits and letters and standsout with a nice cameo contast, the last 3 is still brilliant, with little or no contast, and fades into the field. Even if it had been recognized, it was very common, possibly more common than properly frosted ones.
I had a couple of these at one time and the "3" also appeared to be a weaker strike than the rest of the date, so I have to agree with the filled die description.
Does that apply to the quarters too? I have a mint set and two of the quarters have a disappearing 3.
It applies to any coin where a similar thing occurs. edit - I just want to clarify. The thing that applies is the cause, not the name. Weak letters or numerals are not uncommon. They can be cause by a few different things such as grease filled dies, tapered planchets, thin planchets, misaligned dies (side to side or out of plane), out of adjustment dies (spaced too far apart) and more.
i have the same deal with my 2003 silver proof set. the cent and two quarters have the phantom 3 going on. so the set is still prob worth melt lol
