They look like intentional precision holes for a specific purpose. Your thoughts on why. Is there a way to determine if this coin was in fact an S?
I have found old coins used as shims in old furniture before. But I don't think that is the source of these holes. I would expect unusual wear on the cent if it were a shim of some sort. The holes certainly appear to be precision placed.
It looks like the "VDB" is genuine. Beyond that, I don't know that you will be able to determine if its birthplace was Philadelphia or San Francisco.
But why would you want to know...wouldn't it just depress you if you found that it was?? Now, you can believe it was just a plain old VDB...
Likely a button. I've also seen many old coins used as decorations on horse tack. Usually silver but also Buffalo nickels and many in very nice condition aside from repurposing them.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't the placement of an "S" mintmark be slightly further to the left? Chris
With that punctured coin, there's no way to determine whether it's an S. The coin is mutilated, and whatever it was, it certainly has no value at this point.
It would be interesting to see Farmer place his overlay on the photo to see if a mintmark may have potentially been obliterated.
It looks to me like the only possible match would be OBV #4. The other three obverse dies would leave a remnant of the "S" mint mark.
Now you will always be left to wonder. Heck, I would plug it in the S-VDB hole in my book and swear it was born in SanFran... LOL
Even with 1909 S cents, not many people put them in an album. From what I've seen, they're usually slabbed. But, putting it in the S VDB spot is a good idea for it.
