Over the weekend I found a 2000 Lincoln cent with what looked to me like a Spartan helmet on the reverse. Since I just saw "300" last week, I figured it might be my imagination, so I tried to see if I could find a coin that matches the faint image on mine. I did. The image matches up perfectly with the one of Leonidas on a .925 silver coin, part of a four coin set. I have a few pics to help illustrate what I'm talking about. You may have to click back and forth between them a few times to see what I've labeled. The arrows in one picture has numbers beside them as they are identifying points I have used; their descriptions are as follows: 1. End of Leonidas' nose shield on the helmet. 2. Top lip of Leonidas. 3.Center of his eye. 4.Part 1 of line going down his helmet. 5.Part 2 '' '' '' '' '' '' . 6.Where his beard shows from the bottom of the helmet and meets the neck. Picture 1 is just the coin with arrows pointing at a few identifying checkpoints that are pretty visible. The next pic is of the coin, the arrows, and the "ghost" of the Leonidas image on the back for visual comparison. Then the last one is the picture with the arrows numbered for the descriptions. Anyway, I was wondering how an image like this can get on a coin? It is faint but it can still be picked out with the naked eye, so it kind of leaves me scratching my head. The obverse (not pictured) has a straight line that splits Lincoln's earlobe in half that matches the angle on the reverse of the Leonidas coin. I know the image looks very faint in the pics (best I could do) but live and in person you can see it plain as day. No matter how it got on there, it's still cool as hell to me, and I thought some of you folks might find it interesting too. Any info or opinions are appreciated.
post mint.. someone might have 'squished' the 2 coins together .. either on purpose or suring storage. Or.. it might be one of those after market gimmcks that place a desing on the 1 cent coin.. i have seen states, pets, and famous places outlined on cents... just a thought
