I have a circulated Lincoln cent that I noticed has the top part of the 9 in the date as one solid part. Is this error worth anything beyond it's interest to me? What would cause something like that?
I remember some proof sets having filled S and clear S mintmarks - 1979, 1981. In both cases the clear S sets were valued higher. The 1981, if it had ALL coins with the clear S lists for $275 in my 55th edition Red book; the filled S $12.50.
Actually the Type II set in 1979 resulted from the master mint mark punch breaking. The new punch was considerably clearer. In 1981 That punch broke as well. Something about being improperly annealed. The new punch once again resulted in a type II set. The second punch in 1981 produces an "s" with a drawn out appearance. The curves of the "s" look like two u's were placed on there side in an oposing format, similar to the way this text shows the s. The type I from "81" and the type II from "79" are the same punch, as is the "80" punch, and they look like a normal clear s resulting from stacking two o's on each other then removing the opropriate sections to form the s. This clear s mark also has slightly bulbous ends but it generally shows up clear and well defined.
I looked and apparently I have 2 of them. One is a 1970-D, the other is a 1985 P. The '85 actually is AU. It would be interesting if they might be worth something, I just saved them for fun.
That's fine with me if they're just worth 1 cent each; the question is, what caused something like that to happen. Did the little point break off in the die?
It's a die chip. These tend to develop in the curl of 9's and 6's and the top of 5's. They're exceedingly common.
