I’ve been doing amateur coin collecting for about 20 years. in the last year or so I started taking it more seriously. after a first getting a jewelers loupe I got a magnifying microscope and magnifying eyeglasses. those things helped a lot. Still, it is sometimes very hard for me to distinguish post mint damage, from an error. it makes sense that if a lot of the coin looks mangled, that it’s likely damage. That’s my way of thinking anyway. sometimes I come across coins that just look a bit different. This one 1966 Lincoln penny no mint mark, looks like there is possibly some lettering on the rim. I read on a coin forum once that one way to sometimes tell the difference between damage, is if it is a raised area rather than an indented area, it is more likely to be an error, but I’m sure that isn’t always the case. Here are a couple of photos. I just wanted to see what you guys think. Thanks in advance! 1966 1962-D
Welcome to the coolest and most addicting hobby on the planet! Take into account that copper is the softest metal that the mint uses and use the diagnostics of the obvious damage that cent has undergone and it is fairly easy to determine that what you see is the result of a very hard life. Copper can take a very minor hit and move metal around creating all sorts of unusual images.
It’s damaged. It takes time to learn the difference. Many years in fact. The more you look at coins the easier it becomes to see the difference. Ask yourself how this could have happened in the minting process. It the area in question has metal pushed to one or both sides it’s damaged. If you look at the rim above God you can see indentations and around them is raised metal. That’s a sign of damage. A die crack will be raised but there is no indentation.
Thanks very much for the info info. I didn’t know about the considerable softness of copper. Thanks for that. I’m always up for learning something new. I’ve got another question while you’re here this whole 8283 change from copper to zinc composition confuses me as to which coins are the ones that are sought after. I know that it depends on the weight being 2.5 or 3.1 g but I’m not sure which weight which year is what makes it desirable. Should I post this as a new question? sorry it has actually been a very long time since I’ve actively participated in a message board/forum.
Unfortunately what you have shown is all damage. Clashes happen on the lowest relief areas (fields). There are also collar clashes that show on the rim of a coin, and are easily noticed by a doubled rim. or reeding showing on the flat surface of the rim. Here are some examples of clashes. ADC-1c-1960D(SD)-17 : Mad Die Clashes This one is a misaligned die clash. MDC-1c-2000-01 : Mad Die Clashes Collar clash Collar Clash : Mad Die Clashes Nearly everything that happens on the highest relief of a coin is usually damage, although strike throughs come to mind.
1982 is what is called a “transition” year for the cent. Up to about mid-July the normal copper alloy was used, then they transitioned to the copper-plated-zinc (CPZ) planchet. To complicate matters, both the copper/bronze and the zinc types had Large Date and Small Date dies so 7 different business strike cents were made. Denver did not make any small date copper versions, at least, not on purpose. When Denver switched to CPZ a few stray leftover copper planchets got fed into a stamping press using a small date die. 2 of these 1982 Denver small date copper cents have been found so far, and these are the extremely valuable ones you were asking about. Members here do not think any more of them will ever be found, but people keep searching for them. You just never know. It is possible another could be found but it isn’t likely. So, recap, Denver made Large Date only in copper, but made large and small date in zinc. The 2 known small date coppers were strictly unintentional. Philadelphia made the other 4 types. Counting the accidental 2 cents is the 8th type(not a business strike) and the San Francisco Mint made the 9th type for proof sets; all 9 types bear 1982 as the date.
Read Sparks response. If you have a Red Book you can use that to assist you. If you don’t have one, it’s worth the price to buy one. Remember the prices are just a guide and not reality. The information in the book is good to learn by.
