Incused Penny HELP!!

Discussion in 'What's it Worth' started by mhammer, Apr 1, 2015.

  1. mhammer

    mhammer New Member

    Being new to collecting, I recently came across this Penny that ALL the lettering, date and the Lincoln memorial and the collar on the observe and reverse are incused. Has anyone seen this before? if so what do you call this error? Does it have any worth to it? Help please!! I'm lost on this one and can't even find anything on the web that comes close to it. Hope these pics help.
    PICT0030.JPG PICT0029.JPG PICT0031.JPG PICT0032.JPG PICT0033.JPG
     
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. rickmp

    rickmp Frequently flatulent.

    It was once in one of these:
    encased cent.jpg
     
    Mikey Zee likes this.
  4. messydesk

    messydesk Well-Known Member

    Not an error, nor a formerly encased "lucky penny". Severe environmental damage. Probably what happened is that some of the copper plating was eroded from the zinc somehow (sandpaper, parking lot, etc.) and then the zinc not protected by the copper corroded, leaving the pits you see.
     
  5. Jwt708

    Jwt708 Well-Known Member

    Couldn't it be both? That rim looks like other formerly encased cents but maybe it as all corrosion. I think it's safe to say it's not an error.
     
  6. messydesk

    messydesk Well-Known Member

    Looks like all corrosion. I don't see the pinched rim you get with encased cents. I also don't think there are encased cents much newer than the one posted above. Bottom line -- spend what's left of it.
     
    Jwt708 likes this.
  7. coinman1234

    coinman1234 Not a Well-Known Member

    It looks like "Zinc Rot" to me.
     
  8. coinman1234

    coinman1234 Not a Well-Known Member

    Science experiment, some person filled it down so only some of the copper on high points was gone, then they put it in lemon juice for a couple days, I did that once and the results looked just like that. The lemon juice eats way at the zinc but not copper leaving that result.
     
    Seattlite86 likes this.
  9. cpm9ball

    cpm9ball CANNOT RE-MEMBER

    mhammer, a little understanding of the minting process would help, and then maybe you could answer my question.

    I don't think we need to go any further back than the working hub. The working hub is used to make the working dies. The hub has all devices (lettering, bust, Memorial, etc.) raised which become recessed on the working dies which, in turn, produce the raised devices on the coin. With that in mind, how could the lettering on the obverse be recessed while, at the same time, the bust of Lincoln is raised if it is not PMD?

    Chris
     
  10. messydesk

    messydesk Well-Known Member

    Chris, I'll hijack this thread, now that the question about the original coin has been answered, and confuse the issue you bring up a little with this picture. (Took a very long time ago with film, scanned from a print.)

    [​IMG]

    Note that the date is both raised and incuse (as are LIBERTY and IGWT). This coin was struck through a die cap that had been pounded paper thin, then fell onto the planchet slightly out of registration with the die. The date and legends, as well as part of Lincoln's outline, were pressed through the dropped die cap into the fresh planchet resulting in what you see. Totally unrelated to the original coin, but shows what weird things can happen in the minting process.
     
    Seattlite86 likes this.
  11. cpm9ball

    cpm9ball CANNOT RE-MEMBER

    Yes, that is a cool one, John, and thanks for posting it.

    I just hope the OP doesn't think this is what happened to his coin.

    Chris
     
    Seattlite86 likes this.
  12. mhammer

    mhammer New Member

    Thanks everybody for your responses.
    At least this made me more knowledgeable
    Thanks
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page