Featured GTG: 1922-D Lincoln Wheat Cent - there's gonna be a fight

With the hits on this specimen red circled I cant see how it could be ms

 

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HITS ARE NOT WEAR.

Literally the only thing that takes it from MS to AU is wear. Contact marks are fine on an MS coin - they'll lower the grade down to a minimum of MS-60, but THEY ARE NOT WEAR.

I keep seeing people post this same thing over and over, across multiple threads for decades.

CONTACT MARKS ARE NOT WEAR.

A coin with many contact marks can still have no circulation wear, and can still grade as MS!

(I don't know what this coin grades, I haven't seen it before. It might be AU, for all I know. I'm merely trying to correct a *widespread* error. A coin *must* have signs of WEAR to be called AU. Contact marks are not wear!)

 

@ToughCOINS

 

@johnmilton

 

Are we talking about the coin above? You can't read E P U at all and there are few if any wheat lines visible. There are dings all over it. I was pushing it to consider VG-8. Really.

 

Technical AU-58. There is a rub on the highest points of Lincoln's portrait. The slab grade might be MS-61, Brown.

This coin was struck with worn dies. The Philadelphia Mint, which made all the dies at the time, was concentrating on Peace Dollar dies. The branch mints were shortchanged and had to make due with overly worn tools. The most famous variation of this are the three varieties of 1922 Plain Cents.

 

You can't grade by the wheat line detail because it was never struck up. The dies were too worn.

 

Yes, we are all discussing the coin in the OP.

This coin is a very special issue in the Lincoln series. If you are familiar with this coin, you'll know that it's weird and should be considered differently than many other coins. If you aren't familiar with this date, this will be a learning experience.

I'll explain in further detail once the grade is revealed.

 

This is the second time I've posted a 1922-D over the past couple years. Ought to be a featured thread when it's done. Some good information and contributions to this thread.

 

Next time post a No-D weak reverse and watch the internet melt down

 

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/what-do-you-grade-this-1922-weak-d-lincoln-wheat-cent.311810/

 

Ah, I do remember that thread now that you mention it. Many things were said.

It would be cool to see a progression of the disintegration of this date. I think it would be a really cool study of die states. Is that a thing that you or someone could do? Show maybe 5 or 6 coins in intermediate stages of deterioration?

 

OK. I'll wait. Thanks.

 

Both have indirect transfer, ghosts. Mine has a ghost too. Is that common to the 1922?

 

That poor, poor reverse die...

 

I’ll go MS62. Very interesting coin!

 

Minimum AU-58. Typical weak strike. What I am perceiving as wear might just be color variation. If so, MS-61 BN

 

What to look for in grading, in order:

1. Luster
2. Luster
3. Problems
4. Breaks in the luster from circulation
5. (If heavily circulated) Amount of detail left from wear
6. Bagmarks and random hairlines.

 

MS71